Blue Raven: Life Continues
by tigerlillygirl19
Summary: Carter has just gone through a year without Kaldur. With her lying about the real situation she starts to fear the story might become a reality. With this fear and all the rest going on with the Team and her own family she has a lot on her plate. Let's hope she makes it through this season with her sanity and relationships intact. My version of season 2 refer to version of season 1
1. Chapter 1

_**January 1**_

 _ **BANG!**_

I jolted awake and shot up arming myself with my pen in alarm. I looked around and saw there was no intruder. I looked on the ground and saw my notebook and textbook on the ground. I leaned over and picked them up, tossing them onto the coffee table. I rubbed my face and got up making my way to the kitchen. I grabbed the coffee pot and made a cup of coffee. I should have figured it was bad, I didn't remember when I had made it. I took a sip and made a face of disgust. I poured the cup down the drain and did the same to the pot. I leaned against the kitchen counter before letting out a huff and looked at the time. Three in the morning, I huffed and grabbed a wine glass and grabbed a bottle of wine. I poured myself a small glass and sipped at it gently. "It's five o'clock somewhere." I took my glass and the bottle and made my way back to my spot on the couch. I looked at my research and groaned thinking why I was doing this. Who the hell drinks wine at three in the morning?

"Someone who clearly has a case of depression," a voice said. I turned to see Cassie leaning against the entrance to the living room.

"I didn't hear you come in," I said as I stared down at my wine.

"You don't pay attention to a lot of things anymore," she said defensively. I slightly winced at her tone.

"How was your night?" I asked.

"It was fine. The Team took down Clayface and discovered that one of congressmen was actually and alien who was wanted by an intergalactic bounty hunter," she said with a shrug of her shoulder, "It was very eventful for a New Year's."

"You were kept busy," I agreed, "No civilians got hurt?"

She shook her head, "No injuries." She came over and sat down on the coffee table, "Sis, what the hell are you doing?"

"Trying to finish my research, I have to pres—"

"Yeah, I know you present to the committee in a week," she said cutting me off. "I'm not talking about that, I am talking about you. When was the last time you went out? You're 21 years old shouldn't you be partying every weekend or something?"

I snorted, "Oh yeah, I'm such the party animal," I say sarcastically.

"Okay, that was a stupid question," she said cracking a smile which vanished quickly. "Connor misses you, he's concerned. Everyone on the Team is concerned. Artemis keeps texting me to see how you are doing because you stopped answering hers."

I shrugged, "I turned my phone off."

"Since when?"

I shrugged, "Sometime last week."

"Carter, you need interaction," she said, "Social interaction and not with the people in your lab. We all miss you, ever since _he_ left and apparently took you with him, you haven't been yourself. You are just surviving not living and it scares me."

"Cassie, I'm trying."

"Drinking wine at three in the morning IS NOT trying, Carter," she yelled, "It's pathetic."

"Well I'm sorry I'm not as resilient as you, Cassie," I snapped slamming my wine glass to the coffee table shattering it. "I'm sorry I can't handle stress like you. I'm sorry I don't handle responsibilities like you. I'm sorry I couldn't make it through to the Justice League like everyone else expected me too. I'm sorry I am failing everyone. I'm just fucking sorry okay?"

She looked at me with sorrow and looked at my hands. With blurry eyes I looked at them and saw I cut my right hand when I slammed the wine glass onto the table. I got up and went to the kitchen, grabbing a rag and the trash can to clean up the mess.

"Carter, let me—"

"I've got it," I said whipping my eyes, "It's my mess, I need to clean it up." I began to clean up the mess and cut myself on the piece of glass. "Damn it! Why can't I do anything right?"

I broke out into tears and after a minute I felt arms wrap around me. "It is okay, Carter, let it out," she said running her fingers through my hair. After a while I calmed down. I pulled away and got up.

"I'm going to go wrap this up and get ready for work," I said not meeting her eyes as I briskly walked out of the room and up the stairs to my bedroom. I laid out clothes and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

I got to my lab and got to work. The best work I'm able to do is when I am alone there…and no one is there at five in the morning. I set some specimens up for staining and further testing when I heard a knock on the door. "Come in."

The door opened and the figure stood at the door, "How long have you been here?"

"About two hours," I said placing a glass slide onto the platform of the microscope. "Please don't start, Wally," I pleaded, "I can literally feel your judgment."

"No, it needs to be started," he said walking toward me as he closed the door. "Look I know you are having a hard time dealing with Kaldur leaving and Jason's death but it's not worth destroying yourself, Car."

I sighed, "I know, but it's hard Wally. The stress is killing me. My presentation is Friday and then I have a meeting for my grant renewal next week and Jackson got another deployment." I rub my face and look at Wally, "He is going to Bialiya, Wally, Queen B's territory! Luthor…he can just get him assassinated so easily there. I don't know if I can deal with another death. Especially, his death again."

"Wow," he said rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't know all of that. Does Cassie know? About Jackson?"

I shook my head, "He doesn't know how to break it to her. I mean she got upset at his first deployment but that was just to Australia. This is Bialiya, the danger zone. She is just getting better and that's because of the Team if something happens to him…I don't know how she'll take it."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly. "You need to talk to somebody, Car, we're friends….scratch that, we're family. Family doesn't let family go through things alone."

I nodded, "I'll call Artemis tonight. I'll turn my cell phone on when I get a chance. I'll try…just give me time."

"That's all we ask."

He left to go to his lab the he aids in and I got back to my work. Then once I left there I head for a zeta tube and arrive on the Watch Tower. I walked to the elevator and arrived on my floor and walked to the lab. Barry and Icon who has told me to call him Augustus.

"Carter!" Barry exclaimed, "It's good to see you again. You look….well."

I rolled my eyes as I pulled on my lab coat and placed my hair in a ponytail. "It's okay, Barry, I know I look like crap. It's been a long couple of weeks."

"How is you research going?" Augustus asked looking up from his work.

"Wonderfully, thank you for asking," I said with a smile, "I just hope the committee likes my work and allows me to continue."

"Well, from what you have told us about it, they'd be stupid not too," Barry said.

I set to work on my task. A couple weeks after Jason died and I sort of just slowly dropped out of the Team, Batman and Dinah approached me and wondered if I'd be interested in coming help out with the forensics and testing of items that the Team and the League collects. I accepted because you can't argue with the head bat….or my adoptive mother. So I come every couple of days or when their work load gets too heavy. I left a couple hours later and went back to my home to rest for the night.

 _ **January 3**_

I hate to say this but I need Barry Allen's incredibly stupid and cheesy humor right now. My day sucked, one of my … _adorable_ coworkers decided to screw up some of my slides and possibly disprove my work….almost shot him. I arrived via zeta tube and sub consciously began to make my way to the elevator.

"Carter," a familiar female voice called. I turned to see a familiar green face smiling at me. They were having a meeting and I was interrupting.

"Miss M," I greeted with a smile. "Sorry for the interruption. I was just making my way to the lab." I looked up at the screen, "Why is there a Krolotean crawling out of the chest of Secretary- General Tseng?"

"You know about Kroloteans?" John Stewart asked me skeptically.

"The Dark Circle believes that all organisms are creations of any of the thirteen rings. My teacher gave me readings on some of the aliens races, Kroloteans were one of them. Suspected of being created by a sorcerer in the Third ring. Pack travelers, main attributes are thievery and ability to mock other creatures," I said approaching them. "I've read and heard some of their language very odd a series of odd clicking very jumbled."

"You mean you can understand them?" Batman said.

I shook my head, "Unfortunately, I do not. I couldn't understand the language because my teacher was not well educated in the species. She was from the Sixth ring."

"You…you are Carter Callahan." I turned to the voice and saw a blonde haired man dressed in a lab coat.

"And you would be….?" I trailed off the question.

"Adam Strange," he said.

"Sorry, I have never heard of you," I said politely, "Though I don't hear of much currently with my work, which I need to get back too." I gave a slight nod at the group, "Sorry for the intrusion."

"Carter," I turned to the voice, Connor. "Can we talk after?"

I gave him a small smile. "Of course, Brother, just give me a com."

I turned away from the group and walked to the elevator. I turned to them, "Don't under estimate them. Thought they seem like small harmless creatures, their way of thinking is not primitive."

Connor showed up at the door of the lab about thirty minutes later. "Put a mask on please," I requested, "And don't give that look, Mr. Indestructible."

"Yes, Mom," he said under his breath as he put on his mask. I turned to him with a test tube and beaker in each hand and gave him a look. He just shrugged at me and approached me, stopping at my side.

"What's up?" I asked as I poured the test tube empty.

"You haven't been around a lot," he pointed out.

I sighed, "It's been hard," I said, "with everything going on."

"Yeah, Jackson told me about his deployment," he said, "Did he finally tell Cassie?"

I nodded my head, "She took it hard and with the threats she made I can of feel bad for Luthor and Queen B if they do anything bad," I snorted. "Okay not that bad but she was very creative."

He nodded, "I bet."

"So what else did you need to tell me?" I asked as I put the beaker on the warmer.

"I'm going on mission," he informed me, "Off world."

I paused what I was doing and looked at him, "Is it dangerous?"

He shrugged, "Who knows, we are going to investigate Kroloteans stealing tech from Strange's friend."

"Who is we?" I asked with a raised eyebrow already having an idea.

"Beast Boy," he answered but the air said more.

"And Miss Martian?" I asked. "Look I know what she did was—"

"Don't start," he said his fists clenched.

I looked down at the counter with a huff, "Just promise me you'll be careful, please," I beg as I look at him.

He nods his head, "Always," he smirked. "So you have an admirer huh?"

"Oh, who? Strange?" I asked sarcastically. "Everyone knows your name when you're the child protégé adopted by a billionaire."


	2. Chapter 2

_**OMG YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! SERIOUSLY NOT EVEN 24 HOURS AND 89 VIEWS, 23 FAVORITES, 14 FOLLOWERS, AND 7 REVIEWS! YA'LL MAKE ME SO PROUD SO HERE IS YOUR REWARD FOR YOUR DEDICATION AND AWESOMENESS CHAPTER 2!**_

 ** _PLEASE WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED READING PUT YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE LITTLE WHITE BOX BELOW_**

 ** _-TLG19_**

The next day I visited the cave. The zeta tube announced my arrival to the cave and I got a welcome I wasn't expecting. Before i was even in the middle of the room, a large white fur covered animal tackled me to the ground and licked my face.

"Bleh! Wolf! Come on that was my mouth!" I protested with a smile on my face. He stopped and looked at me giving me an innocent look. "Yeah, yeah, I missed you too, you giant fur ball." He gave me one last like and moved off of me letting me get up.

"Hey, Sis," Cassie, my sister, said, "Nice to see you made it out of the house."

"Oh, I'd never miss an opportunity to embarrass my adorable little sister," I said putting her in a hold and messing with her hair.

She struggled out of my hold and fixed her hair. "So what are you doing here?"

"A long overdue visit," I said, "How are you guys fitting in?" I looked towards the new members of the group the new Robin, Blue Beetle, and Lagoon Boy.

Robin shrugged, "It's an adjustment."

I give him a small smile, "It always is, it's a different working with your mentors to working with a team. Even for some who unfortunately do not have a mentor officially," I say looking toward Blue Beetle. "But when one is adjusted, you find it evolves to much more than just simply a team. I hope all of you are finding that out on your own."

"Is that Little Red I hear lecturing?" a male voice says. I look over their shoulders to see Malcom or Mal walk in with his girlfriend Bumble Bee.

I rolled my eyes, "What did I tell you about calling me Little?"

"Not too," he says smirking, "But you know I'm still going too."

I sighed, "Yeah, whatever, I'll just stop listening to you." I turn to his girlfriend, "Hey, Karen, how's the juggling going?" Last time we spoke she had gotten a job as a lab tech at her college and she was worried about how she would handle doing everything.

"It's going well, Girl," she said smiling, "How have you been?"

"On edge, I present my work in front of the heads of the science department of Stanford tomorrow," I said.

"Oh," she said grimacing, "have fun with that."

"Carter," a new voice asked, "What are you doing here?"

I turned around on my heel and instantly went on edge. There stood one of my least favorite people, Richard Grayson aka Nightwing. Ever since he had his oh so brilliant idea I had brushed him off as irrelevant in my life. "What I can't come visit?" I snapped.

The white slits of his eyes narrowed, "Now, I didn't say that."

"Eh," I shrug, "but you always hint." I turn to the girl beside him, "Hey, Batgirl."

She smiled, "Hi, it's good to see you. We all have been worried."

I shook my head, "No, need to be just going through a rough patch. I'll be good in a couple of weeks."

She didn't looked convinced but she still gave me a smile, "I hope so."

After a moment of awkward of silence, Nightwing announced they had a mission and the immediately went into hero mode. "It's all hands on deck," Nightwing started, "The League and the Team will hit all 14 Krolotean zeta locations simultaneously. Your priorities are to destroy all zeta tubes or platforms and search for any humans they have abducted. As always, Mal is ops manager coordinating com from here."

"If it's all hands on deck, I can be of assiatance," I said causing him to look at me.

"You've been out of the game for a year," he stated, "Do you think you are ready?"

"I'll always be ready," I stated, "Besides, I have an itch that needs scratching and I certainly can't knock out my coworkers." I smirk, "I want in."

He gave me a look of uncertainty but nodded, "You can suit up after group assignments."

I looked to my sister who gave me a nod, "Great."

He gave me one last glance before turning to the rest of the group, "Wonder girl, you and I are alpha."

She smiled, "Yes," she cheered to herself.

"Neptune's beard," Lagoon boy protested.

"Assignment, Philadelphia," Nightwing stated.

"Okay, okay," Lagoon boy said silently, "Give me beta."

"Batgirl, Bumble Bee, you two and Wolf are beta," Nightwing stated, "Assignment Vladivostok."

"Robin, La'gaan, Beetle, Cass," he said approaching them, "You're gamma, prep the Bio-ship. You're headed to New Orleans.

Looking discouraged, La'gann looks to the floor and turns to walk to the hanger, "Gamma always gets the soft gigs." Blue beetle followed.

Dick caught Robin by the arm, "Tim, you're running gamma."

He looked astonished, "But, Dick, I've never lead a squad before."

"Making this a good opportunity to get you feet wet as a squad leader," Dick said.

"Because it is gamma and you aren't expecting trouble or because you are stretched thin and have no choice?" Tim asked.

I smirked at Nightwing's expression, "Just don't die, okay?" Tim's white eyes slights widened slightly, "Just don't take an unnecessary risks to the squad, that's an order."

Tim nodded in agreement and looked to us. I turned to Cassie and under her breath she recited a spell and I was in my Blue Raven outfit. "Thanks, be safe, don't die."

"Same to you," she said as she and Tim walked off to the hanger.

"So where am I headed?" I asked.

"San Francisco," he stated, "Single mission, just pooped up on the radar. Check it out and if something's there you know what to do."

I nodded, "On it," I turned to walk to the zeta tubes.

"Carter," I turned to look at him over my shoulder. "We need to talk when you get back."

I nod and zeta to San Francisco. I take a com from a pouch on my belt and place it in my ear. "Lone wolf to Mal," I respond.

I hear his laugh, "Hear you loud and clear, Carter, coordinated being sent now."

I climbed up the small building the zeta tube was attached to and surveyed the city until my wrist alerted me that the coordinates arrived. "Coordinates received, making my way to the location now."

The location was in the warehouse district near the coast. I approached on an energy disc. I would be lying if I said I had missed this. The feeling of the wind ruffling my hair, the sight of overlooking a city, the feeling of having a purpose. It's nice and I haven't felt it in a while. Ever since he left it was hard to lie to all of my friends about Kaldur and it was hard to be a hero without Kaldur by my side as my partner so I just got out of the game.

I arrived at the warehouse, landing on the roof and informed Mal of my arrival. "All Team squads and Justice League units are in place and ready. Go time."

I dropped down from the ceiling and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I looked around at the boxes and saw nothing special. Labels in different languages most of which I knew and it was all just basic equipment headed for stores in the city for tomorrow. Then I began to hear clicking noises. I approached the noises. I saw nothing at first made an energy shield and made my way down over the large pile of crates. I landed silently on the ground and saw a slight light coming from underneath the floor boards. I searched along the floor until I found a hidden door. I cracked it open and spotted six Kroloteans working on a second zeta tube. The first already seemed complete. I closed the door and stepped away from them. "Mal, I have six Kroloteans and two zeta tubes, one incomplete, do I attempt at capturing."

Nightwing got connected, "Blue Raven, first priority is destroying the zeta tubes if opportunity arises to capture take it."

"Got it," I stated and approached the door. I grabbed something out of my belt. I lifted up the door and tossed it in watching smoke billow out from the cracks and heard the chaos that ensued. Some of them I heard escaping, I opened of the door and it landed with a loud bang I jumped in and destroyed the incomplete zeta tube. I counted five had left. The smoke cleared and I could see the last one left his eyes blinking between me and the zeta tube. He jumped and so did I. I punched him away from the zeta tube and he landed against the wall with a resounding thud. I formed a disc and flung it at the zeta tube destroying it. The Krolotean ran for it and tried to get out of the door above us. I grabbed him by his foot. He kept shouting his language at me and kept trying and scratch at my torso. I held him away from my body and told Kal. "Both zeta tubes destroyed, five Kroloteans left via zeta tube and I have one captured."

"Great, approach New Orleans, Gamma needs back up," he said.

"Is everything alright?" I asked slightly worried.

"Maybe," he said, "Just get there as soon as possible.

"On it," I replied and I reacted quickly. I threw the Krolotean into an empty crate and carried him with me on an energy disc.

I made it to New Orleans just as everyone else did. I approached the coordinates and saw a fire. I went faster and saw everyone was safe I let out a sigh of relief.

"Dude! Way to get your feet wet," Nightwing exclaimed. I approached him in the Supercycle and handed him the crate.

"One angry Krolotean ready for interrogation," I stated before I lowered myself to the water. I made my energy shield larger as I hover just inches over the water. The Team and the human hostages climbed on.

I brought us to land and ran to my sister, "Happy you are alright, Silver."

"Why wouldn't we be?" she stated, "We did have magic on our side."

Everything got resolved and the rescued kidnapped victims were treated before being brought to their respective homes. "Couldn't believe my ears when I heard your name on the coms," the voice of the green archer said behind me.

I turned around and gave him a small smile and shrug, "I had an itch."

"It's good to see you are doing better," GA said, "By the way dinner, on Tuesday is at your house or ours?"

I gave him a look of confusion, "What dinner?"

"Family dinner that we have once a month," Black Canary said approaching us. "You do remember we have that right?"

"Yeah," I said shaking my head, "Ugh your house mine is a mess."

They both nodded, "It's good to see you out here. It's been a while."

"That's what everyone keeps reminding me," I said with a sigh, "Well I have to go, I have a big day tomorrow."

"Let us know how it goes alright?" she asked. I nodded and began to walk away, "And turn on your cell phone, would you? I think your sister has had enough of being a messenger."

"Again, I know, it's on my list of stuff I need to do," I told her, "Right in front of get my life together."

"Now that's not what I meant—" she started.

"I've got to go, Mom," I walked away from her and then commed to Mal, "Let Nightwing know I'm going home, tell him he can talk to me tomorrow night."

"Got it, Carter, and by the way," he paused, "It was good to have you back. No rust on you, Girl"

"Thanks, Mal, see you later," I told him before I took the com out of my ear.


	3. Chapter 3

The next night I arrived at the cave. Zeta squad had come back from planet Raan and I wanted to figure out what they found out. I entered the room and was yet again attacked by Wolf, though this time it was much more muted. "Hi, Wolf," I greeted him as I scratched his neck. He licked my face.

"Carter!" I turned to see a small green figure rushed forward and tackled me in a hug.

"Hey, BB," I said smiling at the boy who was now almost my height. "You grew again."

"Yeah, now I'm almost taller than you," he said beaming.

"Trust me not the biggest of accomplishments," I deadpanned, "So how was Raan?"

"It was awesome," he exclaimed, "I got a cool souvenir and we fought a lot of the Kroloteans. Oh and we learned about the missing seventeen hours."

"Wait, the missing seventeen hours?" I questioned, "How are the Kroloteans involved? What happened?"

"I don't really know if I can explain it that well," he said nervously, "But you should go to the Hall of Justice they would know—"

"Thanks, BB," I said as I rushed over the zeta tube. "Got to go."

I teleported to the Hall of Justice and saw everyone was gathered, "Looks like I am just in time for the party. Where are we going?"

"Are you sure?" Batman asked, concerned.

"I had a great day today," I said proudly, "and I can't think of a better celebration than justice."

He nodded, "Suit up, we are headed to Malina Island."

On the way to the island I found out the information about the seventeen hours that was discovered on Raan. When Vandal Savage had control over the Justice League he sent six members: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, Martian Manhunter, and one of the Green Lanterns was sent to planet called Rimbor. For seventeen hours, they caused mass destruction and had intergalactic sights directed to Earth. Kroloteans were there and stole the tech from Adam Strange's friend on Raan and transported to Earth. Apparently, the last of the Kroloteans on earth were at a secret emergency rendezvous hidden in the volcano.

"Remember, this is primarily a recon mission," Batman stated, "We want to discover all we can about the Krolotean's invasion strategy before we shut them down and deliver them to the Green Lantern Core."

We all nodded in agreement. "Approaching drop zone beta," Nightwing announced. Aquaman and Lagoon Boy dropped out of the bottom of the ship into the water. We flew the camouflaged Bio-ship over the island and landed. Batgirl, Robin, and I separated off from the others and observed from a small alcove at the top of the volcano. I used my enhanced hearing and focused in on a conversation.

"Are you able to understand them?" Robin asked me in a hushed tone.

I shrugged, "I'm catching some words. Profit, Earth, Earthlings, ruin, that one just mention someone called the Competitor and their warrior, Main Man. But don't count on me that could be wrong. Their language is rather confusing. But whoever this Competitor or Main Man is they don't seem to like."

I made a motion for us to move to the lower levels as Batman and Nightwing came into view. After watching the overlap of two guards on their patrols we jumped down and spread out.

I observed from my spot and absent mindedly heard a voice, "Intruders, upper level and in the water."

Suddenly a figure came in to view and blasted red laser beams into the water directed at what I suspected to be Aquaman and Lagoon Boy. Suddenly the troops began to spot us out. One shot at me I shielded myself and directed a couple energy disc at him. He flew backwards and feel over the railing and into the water below. I jumped down and picked up his gun and shot at another two that came running for me. I jumped over the railing and landed on the next platform and swung the gun, hitting the helmet of another solider that was trying to get Robin from behind.

I was fighting another soldier when the phrase reached my ears, "-the bomb will take care of the rest."

I continued fighting him before I finally landed a solid blow to his chest and knocked the breath out of the man just in time for me to land another blow, knocking him out. I jumped down to another level and met Nightwing who was calling for Delta squad to stop Manta's troops from retreating. "They are retreating because there is a bomb set to go off in five minutes," I told him.

"Are you sure?" he asked doubting me.

"I have ears, don't I?" I snapped, "I wouldn't lie about a bomb."

I jumped down onto the ground floor and ran through the battles of Delta squad (the Wonders and the Supers in case you were curious) and the Kroloteans. I approached the dock that lead to Manta's ship. I needed to find out where the bomb was and how to disable it. Just as I was about to make my move, Aquaman punched the mask off of Manta. The figure fell to the ground but got back up and faced us. The energy disc that was forming in my hands disintegrated as my hands and stance went slack.

"I had not believed Nightwing until this moment," Aquaman said in astonishment.

"You did not want to believe!" Kaldur exclaimed angrily.

"None of us wanted to believe this," Superboy shouted back from my side, "How could you betray us?"

"You dare question me?" he declared as he reached for his water bearers. I watched as they formed into swords, "After you let Tula die!"

Nightwing jumped down and landed in front of us. "Kaldur, that was a mission. Aquagirl knew the risks. No one wanted that to—"

"Neptune's beard!" Lagoon Boy exclaimed, "Don't coddle this traitor. He has joined forces with our King's greatest enemy."

"Do you mean the King that hid the true identity of my father?" Kaldur asked angrily glaring at Aquaman.

"That was my error in judgement, Kaldur'ahm," Aquaman said, "No one else need suffer for it."

"All will suffer if Black Manta commands it," Kaldur said, "Blood is thicker than sea water." A compartment on the shoulder of his suit opened up and a small missile shot at us. Superman made a move to block it but I stopped him by forming a shield.

The smoke cleared and I found Kaldur and Nightwing had disappeared. I say a hole in the wall and noticed the noises of movement. I ran for it and jumped down into the hole, Superboy followed.

"Just you and me, old friend," Kaldur stated as he glared at Nightwing.

"No!" Superboy stated, "It's regular reunion special!"

"How do we deactivate the bomb, Kaldur?" I asked as I saw it located on one of the structure support beams.

"I don't particularly know how," he said not looking at me, "But I hear the yield is quite impressive."

Superboy let out a battle cry and ran towards Kaldur, his fist raised for a punch. Kaldur deflects his attack and sends a blow to Superboy's chest knocking him down to the ground. Kaldur grabs Superboy's throat and begins to electrocute him. Kaldur looks to us from the corner of his eye, "You have two minutes." He released his hand from Superboy's throat. Before either Nightwing or I could make a move, he escaped into a water into an underground water tunnel. I ran over to Superboy and helped him get up. They ran over to the bomb and I remained motionless, staring at the tunnel. I heard them absent mindedly argue over what to do. Nightwing just wanted to leave it and evacuate. Superboy wanted to try to remove it and run, Nightwing protested with something about pressure and motion sensors.

Superboy grabbed me and swung me onto his back, absent mindedly I wrapped my arms around his neck. When he stopped in place I let go and landed on the ground realizing we were in the Bio-ship. Superboy placed me in a chair and the seatbelts buckled by them self. The explosion occurred and rocked the ship. My body flew forward and eventually everything settled. We were flying for a while and everything tuned out. A hand rested on my knee and I blinked and focused in to see a familiar Martian.

"Carter," she said sympathetically.

"I'm fine," I croaked out, I cleared my voice and spoke again, "I'm fine."

"Carter," I blinked up to Connor's face, "you aren't fine."

"I'm….I'm," my vision got blurry and I began shaking my head, "I'm not fine."

My seatbelts vanished and I fell forward into my brother's arms. I began sobbing into his shoulder as I gripped his shirt in my hands. " _Why is it so hard?"_

 _"Because when you give everything you have to someone and they break it, it takes a while to build it put the pieces back together,"_ Connor's voice filled my head. His point of view appeared and M'gann stood there starring down at us.

When we arrived back at the cave, the Green Lantern is waiting. He says the only right course for the actions of the seventeen hour incident is to go to the high court of Rimbor and stand trial for their actions. They left that night, as everyone said farewell to their mentors, I left via zeta tube. I ended up in Palo Alto and made the walk to a familiar yet foreign house to me. I walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. The familiar blonde that I call my best friend answered the door. "Carter," she said looking at me with sympathy, "What happened?"

"Can I come in?" I asked quietly. She opened the door and I walked past her and sat on her couch. "I saw him tonight." She sat down on the couch next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, "He looked so different….so ….evil." I whispered out as the tears began to fall, "Artemis, I am so afraid that fantasy and reality are beginning to intertwine. That the lies we have been telling for a year are coming true." I looked down at my hands in my lap, "I can't tell what's real anymore."

"Carter, you know what's real," she said, "Kaldur still loves you, he is under cover. When he finishes whatever he will be back."

I shook my head, "He won't come back. My Kaldur won't come back. He'll be changed, different and I am too. I mean I broke down tonight. In front of some of the Team and some of the League, I'll be lucky to even go on another mission." She was silent, "He set off a bomb, it killed I don't even know how many Kroloteans. That's going to be on his conscious."

"He knew that he was going to have to make hard choices going into this," she said.

"But I don't think he knew how hard these choices would be to make," I said looking at her, she simply opened her arms and let me fall into them tears silently streaming down my face.

Tuesday night was family dinner night. And I showed up, because no one faces the wrath of an angry Dinah when you miss dinner. We started off with simple small talk since it was just Oliver, Dinah, Cassie, Connor, Artemis, and myself. We all talk about each other's days, I had just had a budget meeting with the university to fund my research and I had yet to hear a result.

"So have any of you heard from Roy?" Oliver asked out of the blue.

I looked down at my plate and sighed, "I haven't talked to him in over a year. He doesn't answer my calls and every time I try to track him by his phone it's turned off."

"He hasn't been in touch with the League either," Dinah said, "I'm starting to get worried."

"Then have Bruce or Dick try to find him," Cassia said, "If anyone can find him, they certainly can."

"They have been," Oliver said, "he has gone completely off the radar."

"Well, that's going to be a problem," Artemis said.

Yeah, yeah it is.


	4. Chapter 4

_**So fair warning a lot of cursing in this chapter cause Carter got mad….really mad.**_

 _ **A month later**_

 _ **Date: February 13**_

My phone rang while I was on my way to the zeta tube for another night shift at the Watchtower. I answered it and pressed it against my ear. "Yes?"

"See you finally turned your cell phone back on," Dinah's voice said annoyed.

"I finally got around to it," I said neutrally. I could understand her annoyance, I was almost two months without a cell phone just because I didn't feel like it.

"They found him."

I was silent for a moment, "They found Roy?"

"Yeah," she said with a sigh of relief. "Carter, he is in bad shape."

I took a deep breath, "How bad?"

"He needs help, we are going to try to make him see reason tonight," she said, trailing off.

"And you want me to be there to bust his balls?" I finished for her.

She let out a small laugh, "If anyone can get through to him you can."

"No promises but I'll try."

"I'll send you the information."

I watched as he tumbled to the ground. He had shot an arrow into the wall of the building we stood on. He flew down the wire from another building and couldn't stick the landing. He landed right in front of Oliver.

"Hey, Roy," Oliver said reaching a hand down, "Need a hand?"

Roy slapped the hand away and got up, "No."

"Well, we think you do," Dick said from his spot. We all walked out into view Oliver, Dinah, and Dick suited up with Wally, Jim Harper (Cadmus clone of Roy's uncle and used to be Guardian) and myself were in civilian clothing.

Roy immediately went on the defensive, "I have nothing to say to any of you. Nothing to explain, nothing to justify," he said angrily. He picked up his bow off the ground and began to storm away. Oliver grabbed the stack of cash hanging out of his back pocket. An hour earlier he stopped a burglary of a corner store and took some of the money for himself as a reward.

"Nothing?" Oliver asked.

Roy didn't turn around, "It's not what it looks like," he said and he turned around, "I mean that store owner won't miss it and he offered me a reward anyways. Besides, I deserve it. He wouldn't have any of his money back if I hadn't stepped in."

"Do you hear yourself?" Wally asked angrily.

Roy snatched the cash out of Oliver's hand. "Look, I need it. I need it to find Speedy the real Roy Harper."

"No, Roy," I said stepping forward, "What you _need_ is a fucking shower. What you _need_ is to stop trying to drive yourself insane over someone who might not even be still alive. What you _need_ is to come home."

"Really do you have any room to talk about what someone else needs?" he said icily.

I narrowed my eyes, "You want to go there, Harper, fine let's go there. Do I drink my sorrows at three am in the morning with wine? Yes, have I been a basket case for the past year ever since Kaldur left? Yes, but guess what, asshole, I can at least admit that and I am finally doing something about it." I walked up to him and stopped. "What's your bull shit excuse?"

"I don't have to hear any of this," he said defensively, "I am trying to find the real Roy Harper and it's costly when the rest of you have given up."

"Roy, I know you feel lost," Dinah said approaching him.

He turned his back and walked a couple feet away from her, "I'm not the one who is lost."

"When was the last time you trained? The last time you slept?" she asked.

"Don't even start," Roy said, "I'm in the best shape of my life."

"Oh really," Dinah said. She began kicking at him he kept backing away until the back of his legs hit the edge of the roof and he began to fall. Dinah caught him by his shirt and pulled him back. "Best shape of your life?" she asked in muted anger, "That was me holding back, way back." She softened up and released her hold of his shirt. "Roy, you used to treat your body as a temple but now—"

She was cut off by him falling to the ground, "My body is no temple," he protested, slightly out of breath. "It's a cheap knock off. A clone."

Oliver approached him and held out a hand. "Roy, come back to Star City," Oliver begged, "It can be like old times training fighting crime, just hanging out."

"I'm sorry you must have me confused with the real Roy Harper," Roy said angrily getting in Oliver's face. "You know, the one you stopped looking for."

"Because there were no more leads," I said angrily, "We tried everything, Roy, every lead we could find was a dead end."

"You stopped trying when I found your family," he snapped.

"I didn't stop looking because you found Cassie and Jackson. I stopped looking because there was nowhere else to look and life got hard, Roy."

"Stop calling me that," He said, "That shouldn't be my name I stole it like I stole everything else. He was the original, the one you stopped looking for. Me, I am just a—"

"We get it," Jim said approaching us, "You are a clone. But you are not the only clone on this roof top. And I know from personal experience how tough it was to come to grips with being a copy of someone else. That's why I gave up my identity as Guardian, so that I could figure out who exactly Jim Harper was and who Jim Harper is supposed to be."

"That's not the only thing you gave up," Roy stated angrily.

"Roy, you know we both spent years looking for the original Speedy and everyone else here did the same and no one else found him. Because the light didn't keep him alive. It was Cadmus policy to delete the source material," Jim said sternly before relaxing. "He is dead, Brother, which is all the more reason you have to live. To honor the Roy that was."

"They didn't delete her siblings as source material," Roy said angrily.

"That's because Lex Luthor is a selfish egotistical prick who wanted to make sure his cancer didn't come back," I snapped, "Or who knows? Maybe he was actually being sentimental. But unless it isn't for his or the Light's personal gain he doesn't give a shit."

"Are you done?" Roy asked glaring at me. If I didn't feel so sorry for him, I would have thrown him off of the roof. He is lucky….so lucky. "You want to salvage someone's soul? Go get Kaldur to see the light, I hear he needs course correcting but leave me out." He walked to the edge of the roof, "Write me off or don't. Either way, blow." He jumped off the edge.

I looked to Dinah and Oliver they both nodded at me. "I don't think he knows I placed it, find out where he is staying," Dinah said, during her fight she had placed a tracking device on Roy.

"I'll find him," I declared, "And I'll try not to beat the crap out of him… no promises."

I followed him to a crappy neighborhood twenty minutes away from our little pow-wow, entering an abandoned building. I stayed out of sight and waited to see he knew I was there. I went to make my move when I saw someone else slip into the building. "What the hell is she doing here?"

I flew myself over to the building and entered floor below. "Chill, Red, I'm not here to fight," Cheshire said. I was just outside the door now. "I'm here to make you clean up your act." _Why the hell do you care?_ I thought mentally.

I heard Roy sigh, "Ugh, not you too," I heard footsteps and then the springs of a couch, "Well forget it, Jade, you lost the right to back seat drive when you left me for a life of crime."

 _They were together,_ I thought, _God, Roy, what have you been doing?_

"That's not why I left," Jade said amusingly, "It was just a side benefit. Besides, I am still your wife," my jaw dropped. "Legally, grants me certain privileges to knock sense into you." I heard footsteps and she got closer to the door. "Roy, I left because your obsession with finding Speedy was all consuming. There wasn't room in your life for anything else or anyone else. Not me and not your daughter."

… _WHAT?_

"I have a daughter?" Roy asked astonished. _Good, at least I am not the only one that doesn't know_.

"Lian Nguyen Harper, she needs her father, Roy," Jade said. "You have to get your head on straight for her and that means you need to exorcise Speedy's ghost. Once and for all. So while I was away, I called in every chip I had. I got us a lead, Red, one last chance to find the original Roy Harper."

I opened the door and leaned against the door frame. "Great, when are we leaving?"

"You followed me?" Roy said jumping up from his spot of the couch. He took off his domino mask and the dark circle under his eyes concerned me and he held a bundle of green in his arms.

"You got fucking married?" I asked in the same angry tone he used. "And don't put all the blame on me. If you were in the 'best shape of your life' you would have realized Dinah put a tracker on you the minute you leapt off the building." I turned to Jade, "So, does you sister know about your union of holy matrimony or is this going to be news to her too?"

Jade smirked and shrugged, "What do you think?" she asked teasing.

I shook my head and smacked my forehead. Then I smiled and let out a laugh. "Oh, this is great. Just _fabulous_. I can't wait to see how you explain this to Oliver, Dinah, and Artemis. Oh, wow, Artemis is going to castrate you."

"What are you doing here, Carter?" Roy said not amused.

"I came to hopefully knock some sense into you," I said, "Or maybe make you take a shower or sleep since apparently you haven't been doing either for a year."

"I think I have had enough of people telling me what to do tonight," he said exasperated.

I stayed silent and sighed. "I can't make you do anything, Roy, you are a grown ass man. And now your grown ass is apparently a father. You need to clean up. Sleep, get healthy, because frankly I don't think Jade wants to be left a widow and single mother by the time she's thirty." I paused, "And I want my big brother back, and his name is not Jackson."

He looked at me and then looked at the little girl in his arms. Then he looked at both of us and nodded. "For Lian."

I gave a smile and looked down at the bundle in my arms. I turned to Jade, "Can I see her?"

She looked at me skeptically, "Yes, I suppose you are her aunt." I sat down on the couch beside Roy and looked at her in amazement.

"She looks just like you, Roy," I said with a huge smile on my face. She truly did, honestly. Her hair matched his auburn colored and her facial features were a perfect combination of Roy and Jade.

"Yeah, she does," he said in amazement, "My daughter."

When I went to bed that night I dreamt of children playing in the park. There were three children, one girl with Roy's auburn hair. A boy and a girl both with brown hair, the boy had brown eyes, the girl had a familiar silver pale green eyes. I woke up with tears streaming down my face. I wiped them away with my sleeve and got up from my bed. I walked down stairs and headed to the kitchen. I really need a glass of wine.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Hey you guys TLG19 here and i realized i forgot to mention something that i didn't particularly elaborate on in chapter 3 which one of you guys brought up. So Kaldur still said the whole bit about Tula and here is why you have to think before he had his crush on her they were most likely really great friends. the three musketeers: Kaldur, Tula, and Garth so when they joined the Team they were probably stil really great friends because they had both found the loves of their lives. So i wasn't playing the "Love of my life" card i was playing the "One of my best friends" card_**

 ** _Hope that clears everything up and here is chapter 5!_**

Five days after that night and I was …cooping. I was in the kitchen sitting at the counter on a bar stool reading over some of research. They pushed my research through and gave me the all clear to do animal trials. I thought it was doubtful with my coworker ruining some of my tests and apparently proved my results wrong. The committee looked into it and realized he had tampered with my research and falsified their results. He was quickly removed from the lab. We had just started doing the test on lab rats and so far they were promising.

I heard the back door open and shut. I looked at the time and called out, "Cassie, what happened to the mission?" I called out to her. It was only eight thirty and she had just left at six for a mission briefing. When I heard no answer, I immediately went on alert. I reached for my purse and grabbed my gun. This one unlike the ones I use as Blue Raven had actual bullets. I figured if someone was going to try and attack me in Palo Alto of all places… they are practically asking to get shot. I heard footsteps walking down the hall and towards the kitchen. I swung around and aimed then gun, which was cocked and ready to go.

When I saw who was standing there I dropped the gun and my glass of wine. It felt like someone had just kicked me in the stomach, I couldn't breathe. When I finally got my breathing under control I spoke, "What are you doing here?" He was silent for a moment before walking forward. "Stop right there," I said as I got up from the bar stool and backed away, "What are you doing here?"

"I had to see you," Kaldur said his tone made my heart ache.

"You saw me a month ago, on Malina Island," I said, "You know where you blew of hundreds of Kroloteans."

His eyes grew cold, "It was a choice I had to make."

"Yeah, you seem to have been making a lot of those," I said angrily, "I see you are ranked higher now."

"Yes, my father is putting a lot of trust in me," he answered neutrally. We were both silent for a moment before his eyes softened again. "How have you been?"

I looked to the floor at the shattered glass and the puddle of red wine. "I've been better." I answered honestly. "Why are here, Kaldur?"

"I had to see you," he repeated again this time more desperately.

"You should have Dick take a picture," I snapped back. "You have been gone for a year, Kaldur, are you really going to risk all of that of seeing if I'm okay?"

He was silent for a moment and he began to try to approach me again. I retreated back and stood beside the counter of the island that was set in the middle of the room. "Just stay away please," I pleaded, "It will make it easier."

"Make what easier?" he asked curiously.

"When you leave," I answered, "it will make it easier when you have to leave. I won't be reminded of anything and I can just forget you were here for my sanity." He was silent for a moment before he clenched his fist and punched a wall. The sound startled me and I flinched at the noise. "What was that for?" I asked angrily.

"Why did I agree to this?" he asked angrily.

"Because you and Dick wanted to take down the Light from the inside," I answered, "You were the only one who could."

"I agreed to leave my home to become a monster," he said his tone full of regret. I stayed silent. "Look at what has become of us. You are shying away from me in fear."

"I'm not afraid of you," I said astonished that he would think of such a thing. "I'm scared of what will happen to me when you leave. Kaldur, I don't know what Dick has been telling you if he has at all. I'm not doing good, I haven't been for a while." The tears started to fill in my eyes, "I'm barely hanging on, I'm trying to be strong but—" I wiped my eyes, and stared down at the wetness on my hand. "It hasn't been working that well."

Before I knew it I felt his arms around me and my senses went into overdrive as my body remembered exactly how he affected me. Goosebumps rose all over my body, my arms wrapped themselves around him, my hands gripped his shirt. I nuzzled myself into my favorite spot between his collar bone and shoulder. His scent filled my nose and a smile grew on my face when he still smelled the same. I felt him shift and I pulled away slightly. Instantly his lips were on mine. We both fought for dominance when suddenly I got brought back to my senses.

I pulled away and I punched him. My fist connected with his cheek and I ran away and stopped when I was on the other side of the room. "Why did you do that?" I exclaimed with tears building up in my eyes.

"I-I—" he couldn't answer.

"Please leave," I pleaded.

"Carter—"

"Please!"

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"I know but please make this easier for the both of us and leave. Go back to your father and play the bad guy," I said angrily. "Go do want you wanted to do, what you choose to do instead of me." I made my escape and ran up the stairs. When I made it to my room, I locked the door and then ran to the bathroom I turned on the water and stepped underneath the freezing water. I have to get rid of him. That was all I could think as I took a wash cloth and scrubbed my skin and clothes. I took off my t-shirt and threw it down to the tile I took off my pants and threw them down too. I scrubbed my skin until it was red and I slowly sunk to the ground.

That water got hot and then ran cold again. I figured when I heard my teeth chattering, it was time to get out. I took off the rest of my clothes and wrapped myself in a towel. I walked into my room and put on pajamas and I laid in my bed. I don't know when I went to sleep but I woke up to Cassie banging on my door.

"Thank god," she said shew her arms wrapped around me.

"What's the matter?" I asked concerned.

"I got so scared, there was a broken wine glass down stairs and dent in the wall," she said panicked, "And I was calling for you, you weren't answering, and your door was locked."

"Oh." I said trying to act surprised, "The wine glass must have fell, I had left it close to the edge. I fell into the wall, I was really tired and tripped."

She looked suspicious but didn't act on it. "Alright, well I'm going to go to bed," she said skeptically.

"Great," I said with a yawn, "You can tell me about how the mission went when you wake up."

"Yeah," she said as she walked to her room, "Night, Sis."

"Night," I said with a fake smile. I closed the door and shook my head. Cassie knew something was wrong and that might come to be a problem.

When I got the cave the next day, I asked to speak to Dick privately. "However, you get your messages to Kaldur tell him to stay away."

"He visited you?" Dick asked astonished.

"Yes, and tell him to stay away," I said, "Make up a lie because you are good at them."

"Carter," Dick said pleading.

"Don't 'Carter' me, Dickface, this all starter because of you dumb ass idea. You decided to ruin our relationship with your brilliant freaking plan, why not just go all the way? Tell him I have a boyfriend or something. Just make him stay way for the both of us."

"Do you really want to hurt him like that?" he asked me angrily.

"I don't know," I asked him, "You tell me, because you are doing a damn good job of hurting the both of us."

"That wasn't the intention," he said exasperated.

"Yeah, well a lot of the effects of your cause weren't part of the plan but they still happened."

"I'm not going to hurt my friend by lying to him," he said giving up.

"Well, you better do something because I don't think either of us would like to have his death on our conscious. You know since you keep telling him how much of a wreck I am."

"He asked about you," he said sympathetically, "He needed to know."

"Yeah, well, his _need to know_ might have just got his cover blown," I said angrily. "So, next time he asks don't tell him."

I turned around on my heel and my hand was on the door knob when he called my name. "I'm sorry." I paused before turning back around, opening the door, and walked straight for the zeta tubes.


	6. Chapter 6

February 28

"Roy, are you sure you don't want me to watch Lian?" I asked over the phone. Jade, Lian, and Roy were about to board a private plane and head to Tibet where the original Speedy was being held, according to Jade's sources. They had arrived in some location in Europe last night.

"Yeah, Jade said she can handle it and to not be such an over protective aunt," he said.

"That is so not what she said but fine go," I said in defeat, "But remember after this I would at least like to see my niece."

"We will visit when we get back," he said angrily.

"Liar but whatever. Be safe and don't die alright?"

"Yeah, bye."

I went back to looking at my research when I got a call. "What do you want, Dickface?"

"We need you to come to the cave, asap."

"You know I'm not part of the Team, I don't need to come at your beck and call," I said angrily.

"Can you please just come?" he said defeated.

I sighed, "I'll be there in an hour."

When I arrived four Flashes were there surrounded by a pile of junk. "Does anybody want to explain to me why there is a Flash family get together and why a pile of scrap metal is in the middle of the Cave?"

A blur appeared in front of me and he was a new Flash. He talked in a blur and I couldn't really hear anything except for my name. He was still talking when I grabbed him at a nerve on his shoulder and put a hand over his mouth. "Hi, Fan boy? I don't speak the speed of light, so if you could slow down so I can actually hear what you are saying that'd?"

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Bart Allen or Impulse or Bart, time traveler, speeder, so crash to meet you. I've read all about your work and inventions, you even had a hand in building this bad boy," he said smiling as he gestured to the pile of junk.

I looked him and looked at Dick, "He's on drugs, right?"

"Nope, no drugs," Dick said.

"I'm from the future," the red head said, "Tourist time traveled to meet my gramps at his prime…so crash."

I stared at him for several moments before I spoke. "I'm sorry so what you are telling me is that you are Barry's grandson….from the future…and you traveled back in time in this junk heap….that I helped build."

He nodded, "The gist of it yeah."

I rubbed my hands on my face with a groan, "God, why am I sober for this?" I muttered. "Nightwing, why am I here?"

"Because his time machine is unoperational," he stated.

"So you want me to what? Fix it?" I asked, "I can't fix something I don't know anything about, Stupid. The technology to even build some of the parts of this thing are not even a thought yet let alone invented."

"Can you at least take a look?" Dick said irritated.

"I am taking a look and right now I see the circuits are fired, the hard drive of this thing is burnt to a crisp and I am assuming its covered in zeta beam radiation which last time I checked our zeta beams can't time travel. You want someone who might be helpful? Try Star Labs maybe Adam Strange and his colleagues can figure it out."

I began to make my way to the zeta tubes.

 _ **Recognized Silver Magic B18**_

"Where the hell is he?" she said storming into the room.

"Where is who?" I asked confused. She walked right past me and paused before she looked at Bart.

"You!" she stalked right up to him, "Twenty three, does that number have any meaning to you?"

He looked confused, "Ugh no…..should it?"

"Yeah, because that's the number of different dimensions you just altered with your pile of junk!" she shouted. "Now I am getting double patrol time in the Portal of Realms because of your bull shit! So you had better have a damn good reason why you are here because I might just deck you."

"I- I- I—" Bart just said.

"What, Speed boy? Your brain not as quick as your feet? Thought you Speeders were supposed to be smart," Cassie said irritated.

"You're pretty when you're mad," Bart said in wonder.

Cassie decked him, causing me to snort in laughter, "Idiot!" Bart held a hand to his nose and I could see blood coming out of it.

"That was so crash," Bart said excited.

Cassie looked confused, "Why the hell are you happy? I just punched you in the face."

"Because it's not every day you get hit by a beautiful girl," he said, "Besides, it was a good hit."

Cassie stared at him before looking at Nightwing, "Is he on something?"

"No, apparently he is just like that," Nightwing said amused.

She responded to something but I didn't hear it over the buzzing in my pocket. "How'd it go?"

"Carter, we found him," Roy said on the other end in relief, "We found Speedy."

I was in shock, "Where are you at?"

"We are still in Europe," he said urgently, "But we will be in Star City by tomorrow morning."

"That's great well get everything ready, what is his medical state?"

"He is still comatose but he is stable," he said in relief. I heard him turn away and noises in the background. "Carter, we got to go I'll call you when we touch down."

"Got it," I told him and hung up the phone.

I turned to everyone and saw all eyes were on me, "Roy found him, he found Speedy!"

March 20

4:00 AM

Bludhaven

I approached the ware house and turned to see if I was being followed. I sensed no one and entered the ware house. I saw only Dick was there dressed as Nightwing. "Hope you are happy with yourself?" I called to him as I walked down the aisle passed the crates.

"Don't start, Carter," he said, "Because whatever you say I already have said to myself."

"The Team is mourning her, Dick, they think Artemis is dead and Kaldur is a traitor and a murderer. Can you even tell what's a lie and what is reality? Because frankly with all the lies we are saying, I can't," I said angrily. "Cassie hasn't stopped crying, and hasn't even come out of her room."

"I know, and don't you think I feel bad when I see the pain in the faces of my team and knowing that I caused that," he said regretfully.

"Well, you started all of this. You have no one to blame but yourself," I said quietly as I heard a noise.

"Wally?" Dick questioned in a hushed tone.

"No," a deep voice responded. Kaldur stepped out of the shadows dressed in his manta uniform, I hated it. Wally stepped into view and we heard a last set of footsteps. Someone in a blue coat stepped out near Wally with a hood covering her face. Artemis pulled back the hood and smiled at me. I ran over to her and gave her a hug.

" _I thought it was real,"_ I told her telepathically.

" _Nothing to worry about I am still here,"_ she said.

I pulled away from her. Indeed she was but just how long would that last.

"I take it our rouse was successful?" Kaldur said.

I rolled my eyes but didn't answer. "Almost too successful," Dick said.

"The Team and the League are mourning their friend who isn't dead," I said regretfully.

"When they find out they may never forgive us," Dick said in the same tone.

"And still only we five know the secret?" Kaldur asked.

"This secret and the other," Dick confirmed, "That you have been under deep cover within Black Manta's organization since leaving the Team. How'd it go on that end?"

"Successful as well, I have proven my loyalty to my biological father. He is moving me up the ladder bringing me closer to the Light and their unknown partner," he said confidently.

"Not without costs, Kaldur," Dick said, "The com-sat wasn't supposed to be destroyed and La'gaan definitely was not supposed to be captured."

"It was the only way to save his life and maintain my cover," Kaldur said regretfully as he looked down to the ground.

"I'm not blaming you," Dick said stepping forward to his friend. "I know you have been forced to make impossible decisions." Dick placed a hand on Kaldur's shoulder. "Like choosing between saving the Kroloteans on Malina Island—"

"Or saving my friends," Kaldur concluded. "And I will find a way to help La'gaan, you have my word."

"So what now?" Artemis asked.

Nightwing approached them with a necklace and placed it on Artemis's neck. "Ugh, Dude, why are you giving bling to my dead girlfriend?"

"Glamour charm, courtesy of Zatanna," I said, "It's got a physo-morphic spell bonded to it."

Wally moved to face her, "Wow, you look…exactly the same," he says sarcastically.

I hit him in his arm, "She only looks the same to us. Well, originally, just the four of us. I had to add Kaldur on my own," I said looking down at the ground avoiding the gaze of said person.

"The more impressive trick is how you got something so specific from Zatanna, without revealing who or what it was for," Artemis said curiously.

"We have a history," Dick said with a smirk.

"You dog," Wally said nudging his arm.

I rolled my eyes, "And she owed me a favor," I said amusingly.

"It is time," Kaldur said cutting in after an alert came from his suit.

Wally stepped forward to her and they hugged and kissed, I looked away at their moment. When they released their hold on each other. I hugged her.

"Be careful," I said in a hushed tone.

"I know and hang in there, okay?" she asked concerned.

I shrugged, "I'll try."

We went our separate ways they went to the pier and we went towards the city. "You okay, Car?" Wally asked.

I shrugged, "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"Yeah, but I'm not the one I'm worried about," Wally said, picking.

I shook my head, "Wally, place your worry where it should be, Artemis, not me. I'll…I'll be okay….eventually."

"But—"

"Wally, just drop it!" I snapped, "I'm a mess okay? Right now I am a hot mess who just wants to go home curl up in my bed, take a shower, cry, and down a bottle of wine. Not necessarily in that order."

"Sorry," he said silently after a moment.

I rubbed my face, "Damn it, I'm sorry, Wally, it's just….I'll just go. Call me if you need me."

He tried to protest but I ran, making an energy disc. I jumped on it and flew through the air until I was over the zeta tube. I zetaed home and locked all my doors. I started on my list though I didn't finish…I didn't curl up in my bed. I spent the rest of the night drinking my sorrows when it came time for me to go to work, I promptly took a cold shower and left.

 ** _Hey guys! TLG19 here and incase you didn't realize i just answered your questions. Carter will not be joining Kaldur undercover and you will find out why eventually...so until then buh-bye!_**

 ** _ps you see that little white box over there? go ahead and give it some love!_**


	7. Chapter 7

I stayed at work until two before making my way to Star City via Zeta Tube and heading to Royal Memorial Hospital. I arrived at the room and stood at the door way. Roy had woke up this morning and was learning everything that he had missed.

"So let me get this straight," Roy said, "While I was on ice, you found another Roy Harper, the sidekicks formed their own team, aliens invaded the Earth, and Ollie grew that dopey goatee."

"We try not to call ourselves sidekicks," older Roy said rubbing his neck.

"You don't like the goatee?" Oliver asked rubbing his hair covered chin.

I laughed from my spot at the door, causing all three of them to look at me. "It is a little dopey looking, Ollie," I said teasing. "And I was okay with being called a side kick, just didn't like it when they said my name wrong."

"Carter," Roy said adjusting himself, "You look…..you look like crap. What happened? Did you have a bad patrol?"

I let out a laugh, "Thanks, and no I don't patrol anymore. You kind of caught me at a bad….a really bad year." I walked over and sat down on the chair. "Enough about me how are you feeling?"

"Annoyed," he said as he looked to the other two, "Since they aren't getting the point! You both have been talking around _it_ all day. Now I want answers! What happened to me? How can there be another Roy Harper? And what happened to my arm?"

"Okay, okay, we wanted to wait until you were strong enough," older Roy said, "But I guess that moments here."

"Moments passed get to it," the younger Roy snapped. I did what I would do when we were younger. I slapped him upside the head, "What the—" Pop! "Will you—"

"Can it with the attitude?" I cut him off, "You want answers, stop being an ass."

He glared at me and I glared right back, "Fine, I'll try." I responded with a small smile of victory and looked to the older Roy that was standing by my side.

He sighed, "What is the last thing you remember before we found you in Tibet?"

"I've been trying to piece that together," younger Roy replied confused. "I remember investigating a Lex Corp shell company that we suspected of smuggling weapons to North Rhelasia. Some Lex Corp goons got the drop on me. I remember feeling embarrassed and then nothing."

"That's right," Oliver said as he approached the bed on the other side. "They grabbed you and the bad news Roy…that was eight years ago."

"What?" younger Roy exclaimed.

"Lex Luthor and the Light, this criminal organization that he works abducted you," Older Roy explained, "They amputated your arm."

"Why?" Younger Roy asked confused. "To keep me from using my bow?"

I shook my head, "They had a group of scientists that needed an endless supply of your DNA to perfect a human cloning process," I explained.

"So that's what you are," Younger Roy realized glaring at the older Roy. "A clone."

"Yeah," Older Roy said dejected, "They grew me or rather force grew me. In a matter of months, I looked your age. they programed me with all of your memories, skills and worse."

"And they spoon feed me clues to your location," Oliver said dejected as well, "Thought I was doing detective work but in hindsight—"

"Roy, you have to understand you were missing for months. We had no leads and we were losing hope," I said pleading for him to understand. "We had gotten a lead and were lead to him. We didn't know the cloning process existed and when we found him. He looked like you, acted like you, and had your memories. We didn't give it a second thought. We were just so relieved to have you back and safe."

"So what you're saying is, you took my place," younger Roy stated towards older Roy. "You have been living my life for eight years."

"We didn't know until five years ago," I explained, "The fact he was a clone got uncovered when the Light had….attacked the Justice League. For five years, he has been searching for you."

"And what about you two?" he asked getting angry. "You gave up on me?"

I looked into my lap, "You have to understand, Roy, their policy is to delete the source material and we searched for four years. It was seven years you had been gone and we hadn't had any new leads in two years. We were all going through a series deaths of members of the Team and …it has been hard."

"I don't want to be the cause of conflict between you guys," Older Roy started, "I can understand if you never want to lay eyes on me again."

"I don't know. Seems to me the clone—"

"Roy, his name is Roy just like yours," I said cutting him off.

" _Roy_ didn't do anything wrong, he didn't ask to be created," younger Roy said, "Plus he found me, I can't blame him for this. But I can totally blame you!" he glared at the both of us.

"Roy, I—" Oliver started. Younger Roy cut his off by leaning forward and grabbing his arm fiercely.

"We were partners! Friends! How could you not know I had been replaced? How could you leave me in Luthor's hands for eight years?" he yelled at him. Oliver looked angry but I knew it was at himself he had been asking himself the same questions for five years. "And how did I not see how useless you are? Get out."

"Roy!" I protested.

"GET OUT!" younger Roy yelled angrily at Oliver, ignoring my protests. Without protests from Oliver he left the room

"Look, ugh, Roy, can I talk to Carter alone?"

Roy paused and gave me a look to which I responded with a shrug. He turned back to the younger Roy, "Yeah, sure." Older Roy left and closed the door behind him.

There was a moment of silence before I stood up and held out my arms. "Alright let me have it. Tell me how badly I screwed up."

"Trust me, I thought about it but…Carter, it looks like someone already did that for me," he said with a sad smile.

I pursed my lips before giving him a small smile and a shrug, "Like I said it's been a really bad year."

"What happened?" he asked concerned.

"It's a really long story and something you don't need to hear right now," I said appreciating his concern. "You just got your whole world turned upside down, you don't need to add my baggage to the mix."

"How is Dinah?" he asked, "She hasn't visited me yet."

"You can thank Watchtower surveillance shift for that," I said smiling, "and also a bridal shower. She is excited to see you, she has been very anxious for you to wake up."

"Ugh, I don't think I am prepared for Dinah in her mom mode, how bad is it now?" he asked concerned.

"Oh it's gotten way worse with Jackson, Cassie, and Connor," I said amused. I looked at his confused look. "Turns out my siblings were alive, I watched their clones get murdered. Roy found them on his hunt for you. Connor he is another clone…of Superman…you'll meet him eventually."

"I guess I have a lot to catch up on," Roy said quietly. "Eight years of it." he looked at me, "Carter, can you give me time to process all of this?"

I nodded, "I understand, just I know you, Roy, don't do anything stupid when I leave this room, alright?"

He smiled and let out a laugh, "I won't."

I went to the desk and asked the nurse where they went. I made my way to the chapel where I heard their voices. "—I know Roy doesn't feel that way either, not really. You are good man, Ollie, so get back in there. Because he needs you whether he knows it or not."

"He's right," I said as I approached them, "For once," I teased, "I wouldn't be who I am without you, Ollie, and neither would Roy and...Neither was Artemis. Roy does need you, he's still young and needs guidance, your guidance. Just don't lose faith in him, he won't survive if you do."

He nodded and got up and hugged me, "I love you, Carter, I am so proud of the woman you have become. I'm happy to call you my kid."

I pushed away and rolled my eyes, "I love you too, Ollie, now let's stop getting sentimental and get through that kid's thick skull,"

We got to Roy's room and opened the door, "Son of a—" I said as I looked at the empty bed. "Of course he wouldn't listen."

"Where is he?"

"He's going to be an idiot!" I exclaimed angrily, "Now let's go before he does something stupid."


	8. Chapter 8

So turns out I was right…he was being an idiot. He decided to arm himself and head to Metropolis…to try to kill my father. While I applauded him for the pure hatred we apparently now share for Lex Luthor, he is still an idiot. I will have to tell him so later…after Raquel's bridal shower. I was, of course, was the last on to get there. The others who included: Zatanna, Raquel, Barbara ( Batgirl), Cassie (Wonder girl), Dinah, and M'gann. I ran over and gave Raquel a hug and handed her, her present.

"I know, I am sorry I am late a… incident made me lose track of time," I said rushed.

"Incident?" Dinah said worried, "Weren't you just at the hospital to see Roy?"

I scratched the back of my head and let out a sigh. "Yeah, about that…he's not there anymore."

"What?"

"He is fine, he just zetaed to Metropolis to get his revenge on Lex Luthor…after blowing up one of Ollie's weapon hide outs," I said nonchalantly, "Not such a big deal. The boys are handling it." She gave me a look, "Okay, maybe not handle, but they are going to take care of it. Don't worry…and I see it in your face you are worried."

"Do we need to—" Raquel started but I cut her off.

"No, whatever you thinking if it was on the lines of leaving, the answer is no. The boys need to handle it, we can't always be coming to their rescue, "I said as I got situated in my chair. "Now what did I miss?"

We immediately got into discussion over wedding details including the dress, the venue, everything. However it was interrupted by a robbery. We were laughing over something when the bank across the street along with money truck in front of it were covered in a wall of ice. The beam from the roof of the building we were sitting in front of made its way to us and covered us in ice. Rocket had us covered and put a shield over us. Zatanna said a spell and had all of us in our hero gear. We heard the laser stop and seconds later saw Dr. Cold slide down from the roof over us. We all turned to Zatanna who smirks and recites a spell causing a dome to form the shatters the ice around us, reveal us to the ice villain. He dropped a small ice pick from his hand as he froze in fear at the sight of us.

"I am completely doomed, aren't I?" he said regretfully.

"One-hundred percent," Raquel answered. We charged at him and the poor thing didn't even last five minutes and within the hour he was in the back of a police van ready for Belle Reve.

"Well, what kind of celebration would it be if we didn't have to defeat a villain?" I said as we walked away from the scene.

"Yeah, the only thing...person missing was Artemis," M'gann said sadly.

I wanted to say something but I couldn't so I just gave a sad nod. Dinah called me over after that, telling me we had to head to Metropolis. Apparently, he blew up Lex Corp's building. When we arrived Roy was happily satisfied with the destruction he caused and the new gift he had received from Luthor, an animatronic weaponized arm.

"So you're getting back in the business?" I asked him, seeing se he was dressed in a Speedy uniform minus the dopey hat and utility belt.

"Yeah, as Arsenal."

I nodded in approval, "Cool, creative, different, I approve," I said with a smile. Then I happily slapped him in the back of the head.

"What was that for?"

"For being an idiot," I replied.

I arrived at home to an eerie silence. I locked the door behind me and headed up the stairs. "Cassie, are you here?" I reached her door and saw a note taped to her door. I took it off and read it sighing in relief as I saw she was at the cave. I walked down the hall and opened the door to my room and I instantly regretted it.

"Damn it, Kaldur, do you remember what the words boundaries and trespassing means?" I asked angrily.

He sighed from his spot sitting on my bed in civilian clothing. "Apologies."

"Kaldur, you can't keep doing this," I said dejected, "You are going to blow your cover, Artemis's cover." I watched as he looked to the floor in shame. "Why are you here?"

"I missed you."

"You saw me yesterday," I replied, "To which you ignored me."

"I did not ignore you," he replied, "Not intentionally."

"Kaldur, you have to stop doing this," I begged, "It's better for the both of us."

"Why? How is it better?" He got up from the bed and approached me. "It is so difficult to see you in so much pain that I have caused by my decisions."

I shrugged, "We both just have to deal with it until you are done with this mission."

"I do not wish to just deal with it," he said angrily.

"Well what do you want me to do?" I yelled angrily, "What do you want?"

He paused for a moment before getting closer to me. He placed his hands on either side of my neck cradling my face, "You," he said before smashing his lips to mine. I began to fight it at first and then I just gave in. I grabbed him by his shirt before wrapping my arms around him. he wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his torso and we eventually ended up in the bed…and yes…..we went there.

After we finished, we relaxed in my bed. I laid down with my head on his chest, our legs intertwined. He laid underneath me with one of his arms cocked behind his head with his other running his fingertips up and down my spine.

"When do you leave?" I asked him quietly as I began to draw shapes on his chest with my fingertips.

"In a while," he replied kissing my head on my hair line.

"What did you tell them to let you be gone this long?" I asked curiously.

"I am getting intel on a person for the Light," he informed me, "Or I am supposed to be. I have more important things to do at the moment."

I had the urge to roll my eyes. "If you need to go to keep your cover from being blow then you need to go, Kal," I said sitting up in the bed griping the sheet to my chest.

He sighed, "I know," he said sitting up. He kissed my shoulder and played with my hair. "Please know that I love you and am fighting to get back to you."

I nodded and looked back at him, "I love you too." He leaned forward and gave me a simple kiss on the lips before getting out of the bed to put his clothes on. I got out of the bed to and put of a robe. When we were both covered, he gave me a hug and kiss one last time before leaving out of my balcony door. I watched through the window as he jumped over the railing and ran out of my backyard.

I was calm as I did my next actions. I gathered all my sheets and the pillow he laid on, placing them in a pile on the floor. I grabbed the clothes I wore and added them to the pile. I went and put on different clothes. I grabbed the pile and walked outside to my backyard and put them in the fire pit. I went to the kitchen and grabbed the lighter. As the cloth burned I watched with a glass of wine, sipping it every couple of moments. When they were finished, I walked into the house and locked up everything. I got into the shower and broke. I heard my phone go off while I sat under the pressure of the water, so I was not surprised when I had a voicemail from my sister stating she was spending the night at the cave. I didn't go to sleep that night either.

 _March 24_

 _Hall of Justice_

 _3:00_

I spotted Dick dressed as Nightwing talking with Wally, who I was happy to see looked pissed too. "What the _fuck,_ Dick?" I asked approaching him. "Do you just love to risk the lives of people I care about? First Kaldur, then Artemis, now my _fucking sister?_ " Wally held my back from him.

"It was necessary," Dick explained.

"Like hell it was!" I exclaimed, "Cassie was not supposed to be involved in this shit storm, Dick! And then to top it off you allowed them to blow up the Cave! You really want to go out with a bang, don't you?" I asked sarcastically.

"Kaldur had to transfer intel during the raid of the cave," he explained.

"And what was this oh so brilliant intel, Dickface? It better be the name of the Light's Partner and where the hell they are located if it's so important enough to risk my sister's and three other members of your team's lives," I said furiously.

"It's got tracking software for a microscopic ship in Lagoon Boy's blood stream. We can use it to locate the others," Dick reasoned.

"And in this intel did her confirm that they are all going to be in the same location?" I questioned. "Because in case you didn't realize, Dumbass, you almost died today. Connor told me you were caught in the debris field and unconscious." I said as I sat down in a chair. "Damn it, Dick, why are you taking this to such extremes?" I ask, "I mean what was the reason behind blowing up the Cave?"

"He needed to cement his position with the Light and the Light's partner," Dick said, "The drive explains it."

"Wasn't the why he _murdered_ Artemis?" I asked sarcastically.

"I guess it didn't convince everyone," Dick said unsure.

"YOU GUESS?" Wally said finally speaking up.

"The Cave is, was just a place," Dick argued standing up from his chair, "Worth sacrificing if it stops the invasion. Look I'm sorry you lost all your souvenirs—"

Wally pushed him back into the chair, "Are you serious? I don't care about that junk! I'm worried about Artemis," he said angrily, "Terrified for her! You put her right into his hands."

"Wally, we are talking about Kaldur here," Dick reasoned.

"I know," Wally said darkly, "Kaldur, our friend, who in the span of a few months lost one of his best friends who used to be the love of his life and found out Black Manta was his father. All the while having to leave the actual love of his life and all of his friends who now think he is a traitor. In that mental state, is it possible he might just be a traitor, a triple agent? He is supposed to be playing them but are you actually really sure he isn't playing you?"

"I know him, we know him," Dick argued.

I shook my head, "Actually we don't, Dick, not anymore. He has changed, he is a different person when he is with them. You are just too distracted by your plans to see it," I said my tone filled with sorrow. "Dick, do you remember after the simulation that went wrong and your deepest fear was to be just like Batman?" He nodded frowning. "Congratulations, you are exactly what you don't want to be," I said sarcastically getting up from my spot, "I hope you are proud of yourself, _Batman._ "

 ** _Sooooo that happened ...and that happpened...all of that happened! hope you enjoyed it and give that little white box so love ! TLG19 out!_**


	9. Chapter 9

We followed behind in the Bio-ship. Manta's goons just loaded pods filled with runaway teenagers and Batgirl and Robin, who were undercover along with Bumble Bee. They were apparently supposed to lead us to where the rest of our kidnapped Team members were being held. For Dick's sake, they better be there.

I sat in the back of the Bio-ship on Miss M's right side. I was quiet for the majority of the ride watching Dick, who sat directly in front of me, easily tell all his lies.

"Good, they leading us to Lagoon Boy and the others," Nightwing said, looking at a map of some sort on his holo computer.

"How can you be sure?" Wonder Girl asked curiously.

He turned off his holo computer and turned to her. "Wishful thinking," he said with hope.

"And the abductee shipment at the docks?" she inquired curiously again. "How'd you know about that?"

"Aquaman came across the intel while searching for La'gaan," he lied easily. _It's so easy for him to lie, does he even feel bad for it anymore?_

After about thirty minutes, the manta ship began to slow and eventually docked at a large ship nestled to the sea floor. The ship was very odd looking and apparently the rest of the group agreed.

Nightwing got up from his chair and crossed his arms as he stared out of the window. "So this is the Light's partner?" he asked. "That ship shared the same alien design sensibility as the bombs that destroyed Malina Island and Mount Justice."

"It kind of reminds me of Blue's armor," Cassie said looking to Nightwing. I save that phrase in my mind for later.

"Miss M, you're up," Nightwing said. She stood up from her place and transformed her costume. She made the cape disappear only leaving the hood that she place over her head before she density shifted and disappeared through the floor.

I felt the mental link establish in my mind. " _Alpha squad, I'm heading into the alien ship. Are you aboard?"_ Miss M inquired.

 _"Affirmitavie,"_ Batgirl answered, _"we are in some kind of docking bay. We have a visual on the new aliens aka the Krolotean's competitor aka the Light's partner. And we've got other company…it's Aqualad," she said concerned, "If he makes us, we're over."_

 _"Don't be whelmed,"_ Nightwing responded. _"He won't be looking for you, just don't attract attention."_

After a couple of minutes, Miss M reported back. " _I've found Gar and Bart,"_ she informed _, "They are not conscious but alive. No sign of Jaime, Cassie, or La'gaan."_

 _"We've got eyes on Lagoon Boy,"_ Batgirl said _, "And…Shimmer? Plus, four civilians, and all the teens we came with."_ I started getting anxious, no report of Cassie being sighted. _"We are unsupervised now but Blue and Silver are still unaccounted for. An escape could trigger a response, do we wait?"_

 _"Negative, Alpha, make your move before you need rescuing too,"_ Nightwing answered. _"You too, Miss M, get our boys."_

The link went silent for a moment. In the time, I got up from my spot and stood by Nightwing glaring at the ships below us.

 _"Docking bay is secured,"_ Superboy said _. He went in undercover as one of Manta's troops._

 _"Good timing, Handsome,"_ Bumble Bee said.

Nightwing drove the Bio-ship to the docking station of the alien ship. _"Docking now."_

I moved to the entrance just as Wonder Girl did. The doors opened and I could see a crowd of teens waiting with Superboy and Bumble Bee.

"Alright, People, let's move!" Wonder Girl yelled.

I ran out and passed the crowd. "BR, where are you going?" Superboy yelled.

"To find our sister!" I said as I rushed out of the room. I ran down hallways and found nothing. That's when I got angry. I began smashing in every door I saw, knocking out every single alien and manta solider I saw. Finally I had enough and grabbed one of the soilders. "Where are they keeping Silver Magic?"

"I am not going to answer you, _Hero_ ," he responded icily.

I got a knife out of my utility belt and I shoved it in his shoulder. "You made a mistake, I'm no hero anymore," I said as I took the knife out of his shoulder, "Now, do I need to ask my question again?" he shook his head. I made him show me the way as I held his injured arm behind his back and my knife in his side. He brought me to a door which I told him to kick in. she was there for his sake, in one of the pods unconscious. I knocked his head against the wall, and let his body go as he fell, unconscious. I approached the pod and punch the control board, making it open. I lifted her out and secured her body on my back. I formed an energy disc and flew through the halls.

I pressed a hand to my ear, "I've found Silver, I'm on my way to the docks."

"They are sealed off right now," Nightwing stated.

"What? How?"

"Apparently, our Blue isn't the only Beetle out there."

I got to the door and was met with Miss M and Beast Boy, who was in the form of a Gorilla. I felt the link reestablish, " _What's going on in there?"_

 _"Don't know,"_ Nightwing answered, _"I'm cut off, aboard the Bio-ship."_

 _"We're fighting Black Beetle and Shimmer,"_ Wonder Girl answered, _"Lagoon Boy, Robin, and Bumble Bee are already down. Connor, look out!"_ I heard a bang, I clutched my sister tightly, I looked down and noticed she was starting to come through. " _Superboy is down, it's just Batgirl and me now."_

 _"You've got to get in there!"_ BB said turning to Miss M.

" _What? H-how?"_ she said absent mindedly.

 _"What do you mean how? Density shift!"_

 _"R-right, I ugh I-I can do that,"_ Miss M. answered I turned and saw she wasn't there mentally. She was distracted. She began to density shift and when we was halfway through when the door lit up and she went unconscious, stuck.

 _"_ What did you do to her?" Wonder Girl yelled on the other side of the door.

"Shifted the density of the door," a dark voice answered, "Wasn't quite prepared for that, was she?"

"What's going on?" Silver said from my side rubbing her head, "Where are we?"

"Silver, open the door," I ordered. As a series of bang was heard on the other side of the door.

"Nepo eht rood," she said. The doors slide open just as Blue Beetle and Impulse reached us. Blue placed his hand against the wall and opened up the other on the other side of the room that lead the the Bio-ship.

"Little brother, one way or another I am putting you back on mode," Black Beetle said staring at Blue. "You are of the Reach and cannot escape it."

"He maybe of the Reach's creation but last time I checked he was a part of our team, Asshole," I said stepping up with energy discs formed in my hands. "And we take care of our own." I fired them at him as Blue approached him. They left scratched on his armor. I kept aiming them making sure to stay away from Blue. While the others brought the unconscious team members to the Bio-ship. He had Blue in a hold and was hitting him in the sides with additional arm-like objects that formed from Black Beetle's suit. I jumped on Black Beetles back and grasped his beetle with both hands. I felt the energy build in my core before shooting out into my arms and to where my hands had contact. Electricity shoot at the beetle causing Black Beetle pain. He dropped Blue and tried to reach for me. I formed a shield around myself sealing me to his back.

"Blue Raven, get off!" Blue yelled, I let my shield dissipate. Black Beetle grasped me and flung me against the wall. I heard a crack, and slumped against the wall.

"Yeah, yeah, that's a rib," I said holding my side. Batgirl came to my aid and helped me walk to the Bio-ship just as the haul of the ship gave way or something and water rushed into the docking bay. Water began flooding into the Bio-ship fast, it was already ankle deep.

"We've got to go," I said looking at the haul closing, "We need to get Blue out of there!"

"No time," Batgirl said, "We are taking on too much water. At this depth the pressure we'd be crushed and we are no help if we drown."

The Bio-ship undocked and we flew away as the alien ship released fire. Someone stated they saw Blue get out of the ship and was floating. We sent Lagoon Boy out to retrieve him, he was unconscious when they got back.

"Is he alright?" I asked with a huff.

"He is fine," Connor said approaching me, "Are you okay?"

"It's a broken rib," I waved him off and instantly regretted it wincing, "Yeah, nope, two. That is two broken ribs." He touched my side I was clutching. "Ouch, damn it, don't touch them, they hurt."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" my brother asked irritated.

"Silver," I called her over, "You know what to do."

She nodded, "Okay, on the count of three," she said, "Three. Xif reh sbir."

The pain was excruciating, I clenched my teeth and punched Connor in the chest until if finally dissipated to a dull throb. My body went to work on the healing process after that. I turned to my sister, "What happened to one and two?"

She shrugged, "I don't know," she said in mocked innocence.

I punched her lightly in her shoulder before pulling her to me in a fierce hug. "You had me so worried."

"I was scared," she admitted giving me a squeeze.

"Well you are safe now," I told her.

"Think she's still basking in the glow of victory!" I heard Garfeild exclaim, "She totally nailed Aqualad. You should have seen it." My arms went slack and slide down to my side. "Well, actually…it didn't look like much… but I'm sure it was very cool inside their heads!"

I approached were M'gann sat and knealed down in front of her. I placed a hand over hers and spoke to her telepathically. " _M'gann, what did you do?"_

Her eyes blinked away from the window she was blankly staring out of and looked to me. " _Carter, I'm…I'm so sorry,"_ she said in a tone that was full of regret and pain _, "I-I-I didn't know."_

Tears formed in my eyes, which thankful were covered by the domino mask I was wearing. " _M'gann, what did you do?"_

 _"I…I brain blasted him,"_ she said in the same tone, _"I know I promised I'd stop but with the pain he has caused you and what he did….thought he did to Artemis, that he deserved it. I wouldn't have done it if I had known."_

 _"I wanted to…"_ I said regrretfully. I let my hand go and stood up, turning to Gar.

"She's fine just a little tired," I lied to him, "All she needs is a little rest."

We landed at the Hall of Justice. After we got everyone settled, Dick and I met up in a secured room. I did the first thing that came to mind. I walked up to Dick and promptly decked him in the face. I grabbed him by his shirt and dug a nail into his chest. "This is all your fault, Dick. The plans, the secrets, the lies, you didn't want to trust anyone. Just like Batman. Tell me, Dick, who you have even told me about it if it didn't involve my boyfriend? Same for Wally, would you have told him, your best friend?"

"What happened?" he asked confused.

"M'gann mentally hurt him, Dick, she does this thing. I don't know how to explain it but it's one of the reasons why she and Connor broke up," I told him I sat down in a chair and place my head between my legs. "God, Dick, this has gotten so out of hand. I don't think I can take any more of this."

"It's almost over," Dick reasoned. "We know the Light's partner now all we need to do is find out their plan and stop it. Then Kaldur and Artemis can come home."

I looked up at him, "You are making it sound so easy, Dick, and it's not. They can die, they are going to come home different from their experiences. Kaldur has changed Dick, you just don't see it."

"He came to visit you again, didn't he?"

I nodded my head and looked down to the ground. "He is so angry, he regrets it. His decision is eating at him. I don't think he…I know he isn't going to make it out of this the way he was. It's going to be different, completely different, and I don't think our relationship will make it."

"What do you mean, Carter?" he asked shocked, "Of course, it will he loves you so much, Car. It was so hard for him to leave."

"But he still did," I said, "That drive in him, it's still there. Otherwise he would he gotten out while he could. That drive, I don't have it anymore, but he still does. I don't think I can live like this. Loving a man who can just throw himself into a long term mission like this."

"Carter, you don't mean that," Dick said sitting in front of me.

I ripped my mask off to reveal the dark circle under my eyes. "Does this look healthy to you, Dick? I haven't slept for longer than five hours straight since Valentine's Day last year. Have you noticed how big my clothes are?" I stood up and showed him the new hole I had to make to tighten my utility belt to where it wasn't falling off my hips. I lifted my shirt up to my bra line and showed him my skinny torso where you could see my ribs. "I have to force myself to eat, Dick. I hardly remember to eat any more. I have alarms set on my phone to remind me. I am a wreck all because he left. I was so invested that I am now just wasting away. I can't survive without Kaldur. It isn't healthy, I am not healthy. Physically, mentally…." I sat back down in the chair and let out a sob. "Do you know how many times I thought about it? Just ending the pain."

He removed his mask, "I didn't know it was that bad."

"No one knew," I told him wiping my tears. "I hid it from everyone, mostly, that's the reason why Cassie moved in. It wasn't to get away from Dinah and her crazy mom tendencies. She moved in to watch me to make sure I didn't go through with it, to make sure I eat."

"Carter," he said shaking his head, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was going to be this bad. I shouldn't have come up with the plan, I didn't think….I have become Batman." He put his head in his hand in shame. I stayed silent, because I finally made him realize how bad this whole situation really was.


	10. Chapter 10

April 9

"She already has gotten so big," I said before making faces at my niece who was sitting in my lap. Roy brought her over, apparently Dick told him how bad of shape I was in.

"Yeah, I kind of wish she would stop growing," Roy said sitting in the chair a few feet away. His eyes never moving from his daughter and lighting up at every single laugh or noise of joy she made.

"Fatherhood suits you, Roy," I said smiling at him.

He nodded after a moment, "Yeah, it does," he said in agreement. "Look, Car, I need to apologize for some of the things I have said in the past year—"

"So what did Dick tell you?" I asked cutting him off.

He sighed, "He is worried. You haven't been in contact in a while, he's concerned."

"I'm…..dealing," I said slowly choosing my words wisely.

"Have you been sleeping? Eating?"

I rolled my eyes, "He told you everything, didn't he?" I said sarcastically.

"When were you going to tell someone you were suicidal again?" Roy asked me seriously. He was probably thinking back to a dark period a couple years before the Team was formed. My powers were unstable and I was still scared to use them. A group of men had ganged up on me while I was in civilian clothing, I lashed out and accidently killed one of them with my powers. I had nightmares about it for months. I attempted to commit suicide but discovered my healing power instead. I figured it was something telling me I should stop trying and live my life.

"Roy, please—"

"What? Don't start?" Roy said angrily. "Carter, do you know how much you have to live for? How many people would be effected by you…. _leaving_?"

"I know, Roy, trust me you have no idea," I said angrily, "Right now, all of those people are the only reason why I am still here. You, Lian, Cassia, Jackson, Connor, Wally, Dinah, Oliver, the Team, the League. All of your faces run through my mind every time I think about it."

"But what if things get so bad our faces aren't enough?" Roy said darkly. "You need to talk to someone."

"I can't talk to anybody about what is really going on," I said hoping he'd drop it.

"Well you need to do something, Carter," Roy said, "Because Lian can't lose another aunt."

I looked at Lian's smiling face and she spoke to me in baby gibberish. "I promise."

He left a little while after that, leaving on an awkward note. It was six at night when I received a knock on my door. I opened the door and saw Connor and Dick standing there. "Oh god, what happened?" I asked dreading the answer. I opened the door and left them to close it as I made my way to the kitchen. I went straight to my freezer and grabbed the glass bottle I keep in there for bad days. I grabbed a glass and immediately filled it with the clear liquid, only from me to empty it seconds later with a face of disgust at the burning sensation in my throat. "Okay I'm ready, what happened?"

"Artemis and manta soldiers kidnapped M'gann this morning," Dick stated.

I looked at Connor and took another shot. "So you know now?"

"Yeah, yeah I know," Connor stated.

"So does La'gaan," Dick added.

"So are we going to finally tell everyone? Or are we still keeping people in the dark?" I asked sarcastically, mostly towards Dick. "Because I hope you realize now that Connor knows, I'm going to tell Cassie."

"Can we hold off—"

I threw my glass at the wall in anger, the sound of the glass shattering against the wall cut him off. "No, no I will not. I am _done_ with waiting for you to get over you fear of everyone being a _fucking mole_ , Dick. I am through with _lying_. I am telling my sister, I am telling Roy, I am telling Dinah and Oliver, hell, I might even tell Aquaman since he is involved with this too."

"We have to hold off for their sakes," he argued.

"And you think they are going to what, Dick, out them?" I asked in disbelieve. "They were their mentors, they are my family, Artemis's family, Kaldur's family. They think they are either dead or a _murdering_ _traitor_ , Dick. They have a right to know. The Team has a right to know." Dick opened his mouth and I slapped the counter top. "Stop arguing, Dick, and just admit it. You were wrong, we were wrong." I turned to Connor, "You have no idea how many times I wanted to tell you, Cassie, and everyone….it's been eating at me lying to all of you."

He came around the table and gave me a hug. " _I am so sorry."_

"Still mad," he admitted, "But nice to have…answers."

"Yeah, it is …relieving to have you know the truth," I said letting go of him. I turned to Dick, "So M'gann, they took her to fix Kaldur's mind?"

"That's what we suspect," Dick said with a sigh.

"So that's another one," I stated, "Another one that is in their hands."

"M'gann is smart," Dick reasoned, "As long as they need her she is safe."

"And when she isn't?" I asked curious as to what he would say.

"Artemis and Kaldur will help her escape."

I took a sip of the clear liquid before putting a cap on the bottle. _For her sake I hope so_.


	11. Chapter 11

May 13

I arrived on the Watchtower via zeta tube and noticed a couple members of the League and Nightwing discussing something with several photos of teenagers up to the screen.

"Are these the kids from the Reach mission?" I asked. They turned to look at me.

"Yes," Captain Atom replied, "These four are the ones that developed powers. We had them placed in Star Labs. To get their powers under control but they seemed to have escaped tonight."

I looked at him, "So you placed kids, who were originally runaways, who now have life altering effects from an alien kidnapping, into an environment where they are probably feeling contained, socially segregated, and like lab rats?" I asked, "And you are all completely baffled as to why they ran away…again?"

"We felt it was in their best interest," he responded offended by my observation.

"And did any of you think to ask how they felt about this? Being contain, hidden from the outside world, probably feeling they are freaks and they have no physical contact to their family or friends," I reasoned, "No offense, but are you really being this stupid?"

"Carter," Black Canary warned, "Mind your tone."

"Why because I am right? Am I right that none of you asked if they actually wanted to go to Star Labs?"

"Well we just figured they would like to be in control of their powers and use them," Captain Atom stated angrily.

"What if they don't want to use their powers? Their powers are connected to a traumatic event to go through at their age, they aren't _heroes._ Maybe they want to forget that their powers don't exist and get a sense of normalcy," I reasoned.

"And what if we did? Just ignored their powers until they hurt someone?" he reasoned.

"Teach them techniques to control them, when they are ready and actually want to," I argued, "They can't just bounce back from something that happened less than a month ago and not be angry or show signs of PTSD. You containing them in Star Labs and forcing them to use their powers after recently being science experiments is not what they need. You need to connect with them and actually think about what they want before you get them to do what you want. You want them to control the powers they didn't want, let them have some freedom. Because in case you didn't realize, their running away means they want it." I looked at the pictures of their faces and turned back to them, "Now, where were they last sighted?"

"Blue Beetle is tracking them down now," Nightwing said, "We have it handled."

I snorted, "Um, obviously you don't because then this whole thing wouldn't have occurred," I said sassily, "Now, I'm going to suit up and you're going to tell me their location so I can help."

I walked away towards the locker rooms before they said anything else. I got dressed in my costume and was happy to see that it was actually tight. Since Connor found out, he sort of moved in, and since then has, with the aid of Cassie, nagged me into eating regularly and even dropped me down to a regular glass of wine a day. I have gained the majority of my weight back, much to everyone's relief. I walked out and over to where they stood. "Star Labs security task force sighted them at a bus station," Nightwing stated, "They are headed their way now."

I rolled my eyes, "Completely the wrong way to go about this," I stressed, "Because men with guns is not going to convince them that Star Labs is their best option." I headed to the zeta tubes, "I'll keep in contact."

I zetaed to a city in New Mexico roughly thirty minutes away from Taos. With my way of transportation, I was there in ten, and I met up with Blue Beetle. We flew until we reached the location. And the sight we were met with was one for the books. A large energy being with no face and a teenager floating in the middle standing in a roofless bus station is something even I find is weird.

"Okay….not what I expected," Blue said making me smirk at his tone of astonishment. He flew down and spoke to the men who had their guns drawn at them. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, everyone, stay calm, the situation is under cont—"

I watched as the large energy beings hand slammed down on Blue, crushing him into the ground. I floated down and landed on the ground and approached the crater that had formed. "You okay, Blue?"

He stood up, "I'm bueno, Chicka."

"Good," I said, "because we got places to be and people to find." I ran over to the scientist. "Go back to Star Labs, we will handle this." We both flew away not giving him any time to argue. We found them fairly quickly, I mean how hard is it really to follow a florescent yellow outline of a male a couple hundred feet tall?

"Eh, it happened again," the teenager said, "I thought it was all a dream."

"No dream, trust me," Blue said. We landed on the ground and he put his hands up. "We aren't here to hurt you but you four need to get back to Star."

"Look I recognize you," another teenager said. An African American male named Virgil Hawkins from Dakota City that developed a power involving electricity. "Both of you, you are the good guys, two of the heroes that saved us all from the Reach."

"But, you guys just don't get it," the teen said with the power to make the giant energy man.

Blue looked at me. I gave him a nod and he looked back at this friend. "No, Tye, I really do."

"Jaime?" his friend asked in wide eyed disbelief.

"Yeah, it's me," Jaime answered.

"But how?" Tye asked curiously.

"It's a long story," Jaime moved to take his sweat shirt off to show them the bright blue scarab attached to his back. "But it was started with this scarab. It was created by the Reach to both give me powers and control me. So believe me, Ese, I get it."

I gave them a sad smile, "Actually we both do, my situation just didn't involve the Reach."

"Fine," Virgil said, "you are both one of us. Except you are flying around free as...beetles and you expect us to still be lab rats for Star."

"That's not why I am here, Virgil," I told him honestly. "I will get you more freedom there and you will no longer be their lab rats. I will make sure of it."

"Yeah, just so you can leave and they get right back to the normal routine," the third male responded sarcastically.

"No miento cuando prometo algo que mantenga esa promesa,(When I make a promise, I keep my promise)" I told him in Spanish, "Even if I have to knock some sense into your Papa, Eduardo." I smirked at his reaction. "But you need to go back there for you protection."

"No, you can't take us back there," Tye argued.

"You guys trust me, I don't want you to go there where they don't understand, but right now that is the best option for you," I reasoned.

"Yeah, what is the alternative? I let you run loose and the Reach snatches you up again?" Jaime said.

"No, we are headed to my parent's place so they can —" Virgil started.

"Get hurt or killed to protect you that's your plan?" Jaime blurted out. I put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a look of warning.

Asami, the Japanese girl who hasn't spoken until now, probably because she didn't understand it, spoke. She asked if we were going to help.

"Hai, we will help you," Jaime answered.

I approached her and spoke to her in Japanese. "I know it must be hard to be surrounded by people who do not understand you but I promise we will keep you safe." She smiled and nodded her head, flashing me a smile.

"Ugh, you both speak Japanese?" Tye asked.

"Yes, except Jamie gets to cheat. His scarab translates is for him, I actually learned it," I teased. I got serious, "But look we need to get you back to Star Labs, trust me if I could bring you anywhere else I would."

"Well," Jamie said causing us all to turn to him, "I may have an idea."


	12. Chapter 12

_**Hey you guys TLG19 here and so sorry I have been bad about updating. I just moved into my new apartment and started two jobs so needless to say I have been busy so I hope this suffices!**_

"I have this buddy, Green Beetle, he helped me," Jamie said, "I think he can help you too. He's not far from here, I'll take you." He couldn't see it but under my mask I was skeptical. How could Green Beetle help them?

As we walked I placed a hand on Jamie's shoulder, " _Are you sure it is a good idea to go to Green Beetle's place unannounced?_ "

" _I'm sure he won't mind,"_ a voice said and Jamie quickly shoved my hand off.

We walked for a few more moments before Jaime's cell phone went off in his pocket. "Nightwing, _que pasa_?" he said with suspicious enthusiasm.

"Blue, your radio's down," Nightwing's annoyed voice echoed through the speaker.

"Sort of incognito at the moment," Jaime answered.

"Well armor up, the robot Red Volcano is attacking Star Taos for body parts of an android called Amazo. Probably to incorporate its tech. And since Amazo was capable of duplicating the powers of the Justice League we can't let Volcano succeed."

"But I'm on the runaway teen thing," Jaime pitifully argued, "and we've almost tracked them down."

"They will have to wait," Nightwing stated, "Zeta tubes are down so only Flash and Impulse can get there fast enough and they are both rescuing tsunami victims in Rhelasia. You and Blue Raven are the only ones close, Nightwing out."

Jaime turned to the others, "Minor setback."

"We heard," Virgil said, "Volume on your phone is maxed out."

Jaime began stuttering. I looked at them, "Look we have to go do this. I'll send Jaime ahead and bring you to a secure location, until things settle."

"Are you sure about that?" Jaime asked, "I really think they should go to Green Beetle's place."

"Yeah well we don't really have the time for that now do we?" I said, "Now suit up and go."

"But Nightwing said—"

"I don't care about what Nightwing said or didn't say, You have a job to do and so do I, stop fighting me on this, Jaime, and go!" I ordered, he looked like he wanted to argue but didn't probably because of the stare down I was giving him.

As soon as he left, I turned to the others and I could already see the wheels turning in their heads, especially Eduardo's. "My dad could be in trouble," he stated.

"Dude, you hate your dad," Tye pointed out.

"Uh, ugh, only sometimes," Eduardo argued.

"Hey, it's cool if it were my dad nothing would keep me away," Virgil said understanding. He walked forward and placed a hand on Eduardo's shoulder, "I'm with you."

"So you want to go back to the exact place that we just escaped from?" Tye asked aggravated. "Whatever, I'm in too."

They turned to look at Asami, she looked at me expectantly. "They wish to go back to labs to help make sure Eduardo's father is safe from harm. Are you alright with going back?" I asked her in Japanese. She turned to them and made a statement about of course she would go and ended with a thumbs up gesture in their direction. They looked to me.

"Oh look I conveniently found the four runaways I was dispatched to find, lucky me, let me lead you back to Star Labs where you know conveniently would like to go," I said sarcastically with a smile. "Seriously don't look at me, I'm not going to argue with you guys. You do what you got to do."

When we arrived at Star Taos all seemed normal. "Um, doesn't look like an evil robot's attacking," Virgil stated.

"Wait for it," I said as I readied my stance. Natural energy currents were seriously disturbed and I could sense something headed for us, below us. Seconds later the ground shook knocking the others to the ground and caused me to stumble. I looked up at the structure created out of molten rock and watched as it exploded. Seconds later I watch Blue Beetle fall in the sky and land on the concrete. Volcano stepped out of the building and with a clap of his fingers watched as cracks formed in the ground around Blue. I stepped into action and took off running and launching myself on to an energy disc I formed. But before I could attack Volcano made the ground Blue was on lower into the ground. With another move he covered the ground, trapping Blue. He should be fine though, hopefully, that suit of his has been indestructible to everything thing so far, I'd hate for his demise to be caused by concrete of a parking lot.

I launched several energy discs at Volcano, only causing him to look my way without a single scratch. "All of you meat bags are such an annoyance."

"Oh, too bad. I don't care that you are annoyed," I called to him. I grabbed pieces of rubble in my energy filed and threw them at him. He deflected each one and threw pieces of molten rock at my form which I was thankfully able to deflect as well.

"If I remember correctly, Meat bag, you almost died in our last encounter," his animatronic voice rang through the nighttime air. "Maybe I should find a permeant solution."

"Hmm, I was just thinking the same thing about you," I said but angrily. I attempted to throw one of the bigger boulders at him but was caught off guard to one of his own. It sent my flying directly into the Star Labs sign. By the time I got up and got a large shard of fiberglass out of my side, I see the sight of Tye in his large yellow astral form toss Volcano into the air to be shot by Blue Beetle with one of his cannons. Unfortunately it wasn't effective because after the smoke cleared, Volcano was still there. They began to fight more with Blue using his sonic cannon, as he upped the decuples the range got longer and began to hit the main building of Star Labs. I watched as Virgil made his way over to inform Blue of what he was causing but Virgil was ignored. I raced over to the building and built up a shield to stop the rays from hitting the building but I could tell I wouldn't be able to hold it for long. I called the runaways over. "You guys go inside and get all the civilians out of the buildings. Tell them to go as far away as possible I don't think I can hold this off for long."

"What's the matter with Jamie?" Tye asked.

I pursed my lips, "I don't know, but we don't have time to have a pow-wow to tell him his listening skills suck, GO!"

One by one they got people out and placed them at a safe distance. The fight had moved literally through the building and made its way to the other side. I made and energy disc and made my way through a hole that went straight through the building to find Blue and Volcano at another stand off this time volcano had leverage as he head the runaways trapped in giant hands made from rock.

"Time to sacrifice your victory and save the meat bags like a good hero," Volcano said arrogantly.

Blue surprised me with his response. "You shouldn't stereotype."

As the fight moved away from the scene, the runaways one by one got themselves out of their traps. Eduardo stormed over to Tye, "Your friend was about to sacrifice us."

"He had faith in you guys," I told them trying to be convincing, "He knew you'd be able to get out on your own." As we watched the fight continue for not even a minute longer, Blue Beetle winning in the end I could see silent looks of communication between the four of them.

"Done!" blue Beetle said as he landed in front of us. "Now we need to get you to Green Beetle."

"Jaime, I'm not sure—" Tye started.

"Tye, this is not up for debate," Blue said cutting him off with a sort of impatience in his voice. As anger took purchase on his face he said, "We need to go, NOW!"

Before I or any of the others could say anything news crews rushed over to us and shoved their microphones into Blue's face and then mine when they say I was there. I waved them off and began ushering the four young teens away. I expected Blue to do the same but after a stuttering first response he introduced himself and became eager to answer the reporter's questions with a huge smile on his face. I narrowed my eyes and made a notes to discuss Blue's change in behavior to Nightwing.

"You guys come with me," I told them.

"But what about Jamie?" Tye asked.

"He providing a distraction," I said, "Now let's go."

"We are still going to stay with Green Beetle?" Virgil asked.

I shook my head, "No, I bringing you somewhere safe where no one has to force you to use your powers. There is an abandoned warehouse near my place."

"Who is to say you aren't brining us to another Star Labs?" Eduardo said suspiciously.

"Last time I checked there are no Star Labs near Palo Alto, California," I said, "Now are you coming or what?" One by one they all looked at each other before turning to look at me expectantly. I nodded in confirmation, "Then let's go, before we are seen."

When we got out of the city limits, I had stopped into a 24 hour Walmart to buy new clothe minus the mask and covered in Eduardo's hoodie of course. Once I was in civilian mode I called a taxi and had them drive us to an airport.

"Blue Raven, how are we going to get on a plane without the Justice League finding us?" Virgil asked.

"I know a guys who owes me a favor, and my name's Carter, Virgil, use that since we are incognito," I said as I tipped the taxi driver, who thankfully only spoke Spanish, and made our way through the back entrance to a private air strip. There waiting with a private charter plane was Danny, a man who used to work for Oliver at Queen Industries. Then he won the lottery, bought a plane, and now a contractor piolet for businessmen. He owed me favor because I befriended his daughter and allowed her to meet some famous teen music group.

"Mrs. Queen, so good to see you again," Danny said putting out his hand.

"Likewise, how is Penelope?"

"Young and beautiful as always, she is about to graduate college," he said with a wide simile.

"That's wonderful," I said as he escorted us to his plane.

"You were in luck that I was even able to pick up my phone," he began, "I woke up early today to charter a couple and wanted to get the plane cleaned."

"I'm glad luck was on our side then," I said with a smile. "Now this stays off the books, correct?"

"Hmm, it seems I am in a mood to make a morning trip to California," he said nonchalantly before throwing me a smile.

"Thank you, Danny."

We got to Palo Alto a little before nine in the morning. We took another taxi and made our way to an apartment complex less than five miles away from my house. We made our way to the sixth floor and I pulled out a set of keys. "Okay here's the deal this is a secondary meet up place me and my family use incase anything alarming arises and I need to get away from the press. That shouldn't happen, hopefully, so you guys are welcome to stay here. I had food stocked and the place cleaned this morning, just don't be too loud and don't trash the place." I opened the door and let them in. I gave them a tour of the five bedroom apartment we used for public emergencies. I walked up to a drawer in a kitchen and grabbed a cheap prepaid phone. "This is a burner phone it doesn't trace back to me and is un-trackable you can use it to call your families and let them know you are safe. But right after you need to turn it off and only turn it on for emergencies. My number is programed in there under my name. I'll come visit you weekly, and help you train with your powers if you want too. It's entirely up to you I won't force you to use them."

"What if we want to train when you aren't here?" Virgil asked.

I thought about it for a moment, "Do small things that are containable, last thing we need is you taking out the electricity for the entire pacific coast."

He looked sheepishly and nodded in response, "Got it."

"Good, now I think it is time for you all to go to bed, it has been a long night," I said ushering them to their rooms. "I'll come check on you guys tonight."

As soon as I got to my house I got in my room locked the door and went to sleep. All the while Nightwing and my mother were calling my phone trying to figure out where we had mysteriously disappeared.

I got up at about seven that night to find Nightwing in my kitchen. "You know, Dick, there are these thing called boundaries. You should look them up to find what they mean."

"Where are the runaways?" he asked annoyed.

"I don't know, Blue and I were caught up in the reporters swarm, I'm short I couldn't exactly see where they went," I said sarcastically.

"It is safer for them if they went back to Star Labs," he argued.

"Oh yeah, that place was like Fort Knox last night," I snapped at him. "I'm sure where ever they are, they are safe from the Reach, the Light, and from you."

"We are trying to help them," he yelled.

"By forcing them to be heroes?" I shouted back at him. "Holding them against their will, training them for hours on end to test their abilities, keeping them out of contact with their families? Oh yeah, you seem like the poster child for !"

"It was for their own good," he said in a quieter voice.

"Really? Because being forced to risk your life for selfish spiteful human beings doesn't seem like an excellent quality option," I sneered, "Now I'm going to _politely_ ask you to get out of my home so I can cook my dinner and eat in piece."

"You know you have talked about how Kaldur has changed in the past year, you have too," Dick said, "and not for the better."

"Yeah well maybe next time you should keep your mouth shut about your oh-so brilliant plans," I said angrily, "Now get the fuck out of my house."


	13. Chapter 13

May 25

It was another long day in the lab. I had been doing my research since five am that morning and decided to end at eight that night. Figured I'd make it a family movie night with Cassie and Connor. That is until I saw a second moon in the sky. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed that all too familiar number as I starred at the anomaly in the night's sky.

"Um….Mom…..why is there a second moon?" I ask in confusion.

"Carter, you need to get to the warehouse now," she said urgently.

"Mom, what the hell is that thing?"

"Nightwing will explain it all, you need to get your brother and sister to the warehouse if they aren't already there. You all need to be debriefed. We need every free hand we can find right now."

"Alright, I'll make sure Cas and Connor are there. Mom, you and Ollie be careful too, okay?"

"Always, love you. I have to go," she said sincerely with a certain urgency.

"Love you too."

I ran to the nearest zeta tube and ended up in Bludhaven. I walked the rest of the way to the warehouse. They were both there and looked at me in confusion. "Mom said it was all hands on deck." They nodded in understanding and I passed them to go put on my spare suit I had stashed a couple months ago. As I put it on I noticed how much tighter it was, I guess that was a good thing and would probably make Cas happy.

As I walked out debriefing began. Nightwing stood at the front and narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight of me…..I guess he is still mad I have yet to disclose the location of the runaway kids….Oops.

"As of yesterday night, a planet-sized spaceship called the War World is in Earth's orbit. It's wielder, Mongul, see Earth as a threat against his plans to rule the galaxy and intends to open fire. All attempts at negotiation have failed and the only option left is to take him out before he takes Earth out," he paused for a moment before continuing. "The League will attempt distraction while the Team enters the War World unnoticed and take Mongul out from the inside. Alpha Squad: Superboy, Arsenal, Wonder Girl, and Wolf. Your task is find Mongul and Take him down. The War World will be less of a threat without its commander. Beta: Blue Beetle, Impulse, Silver Magic, and Beast Boy. Your Mission is to find the crystal key and acquire it as quickly as possible. Without the key, the entire ship is unoperational. Gamma Squad: Guardian, Bumble Bee, and Blue Raven. Your Job is to disable the War World's power core. No power, no threat. Take Sphere with you. Delta Squad: Batgirl and Robin. You'll be in the Bio-ship, assisting the League in taking out as many of the War World's weapons as possible." He paused again, "You guys be careful on this one, this time there is a lot at stake." They all nodded and began to make their way towards the zeta tubes. I stayed behind with Nightwing glaring at me the entire time.

"Your intel have any schematics of the power core?" I asked in a civil tone.

"No." I stiffed an eye roll at his quick answer and began to make my way to the zeta tubes. "Carter." I paused and turned to look over my shoulder. "Be careful, I'd hate to be the one to tell him….if something happened." I stared at him for a moment or two holding back all the sarcastic comments that popped into my head. I wordlessly turned around and went through the zeta tube.

It was very solemn on the ship. It was an eerie quiet that left the atmosphere anxious and tense. It seemed to occur before every mission and I always hated it. It became even tenser when we watched as the War World opened up and displayed a large laser gun that was aimed right at earth. It fired one shot and was deflected back, destroying the gun, hanks to Doctor Fate. The battle began between the League and the War World, which meant it was go time for us. The Bio-ship approached the War World in camouflage mode and docked onto the ship easily. Blue Beetle bypassed the security and in under a minute we were all in. I gave a look to my siblings and we all nodded at each other before going our separate ways with our squads. The minutes ticked by and soon squads began updating Nightwing on their progress.

"Alpha Squad to Watchtower: Green Beetle's schematics are on the money so far. We are in route to take out Mongul. No commander the threat ends," Superboy stated.

"Beta Squad is in route to the key chamber," Blue Beetle stated eagerly, "We snag the crystal key and the threat ends."

"Gamma squad is in route to disable the War World's power core," Bumble Bee announced for us. "No power and the threat ends."

"Delta squad moving into position. Laying down cover fire for surface forces…Now!" Batgirl stated.

We rode down a vertical cavern that lead us down to the lower level where the power core was supposed to be. It was all clear before a group of fifty or so 3-demensional diamond shaped red drones began firing at us from behind. Bumble Bee and I both began shooting at them while Guardian drove the Supercycle.

"Beta to Watchtower we have been spotted. The War World knows we are here," Blue Beetle's distressed voice came on over the com.

"Fine with _me,_ " Guardian said as he made a 180 and used the weapons on the Supercycle to aid Bumble Bee and I. I fired an energy disc and took out two of the little drones simultaneously only for five more to appear in their place. "I _like_ the attention." The battle continued for a couple more minutes before Guardian spoke again while fighting drones close range with his shield. "At least a big alien _dense moon_ notices when _I'm around!"_

I took out another two before I finally got pissed off and took out one of my guns and started shooting.

"Was that a slam on _me_?" Bumble exclaimed from her spot a couple yards away from us, involved in her own battle. "In the _middle of a mission_?"

" _Woman!_ " Guardian snapped at her, "When _aren't_ you in the middle of a mission!"

I took a second for me to put two and two together. "Oh hell no! You guys are not having a _relationship spat_ at a time like this! Can't this wait until we aren't being _shot_ at and I'm not third wheel please?"

The battle went on for a while and apparently the only eventful thing was the Reach joining the League and the United Nations Forces in taking care of the Earth's defense. We finally reached the lower level and reached a hallway that lead to the power core. Guardian and I jumped off of Supercycle and watched for a moment as it began firing at the drones coming down after us.

"Supercycle's got our back!" Guardian announced. "Love a girl I can _count on_."

"Alright, I get it. I'm a bad girlfriend," Bumble Bee said with an eye roll. "Now quit pouting!"

"Who's pouting? I'm not pouting!"

"Earth's Survival at stack here!" I shouted seriously not in the mood for relationship drama of all things.

"Whatever." Guardian relented, pouting. "Let's just blow this place and go!"

" _Uh,_ we can't just blow this place," Bumble Bee sassily responded in disagreement. "It'll destroy all of the War World and Take half of Earth with it! We need to follow the plan and shut the core down."

"Well, _thank you_ for explaining the obvious to your _idiot_ boyfriend!" Guardian shot back. "Will you just stick to the science and get it done!"

I pressed a hand to my ear, "Never again, Nightwing, I don't care how much you dislike me right now. If you _ever_ put me with the couple again I might just castrate you." I received no response.

"Entering the power core now," Bumble bee stated on the com as she disappeared inside the power core.

Guardian looked at the spot she disappeared from with a worried glance. "Good luck, Beautiful."

I shot a look at Guardian before looking away. "Don't push her too much, Mal, just let her know how you feel. I don't want to see you end up like me."

I backtracked down the tunnel and began to aid Supercycle. There was an influx of drones coming this way and there was no way in hell I'd let them stop us after coming this far. I formed two large shields on either side of a large grouping. I smashed the shield together and watched in slight satisfaction as the crumbled bodies fell to the ground.

"There are too many fail saves built into the core. The power keeps rerouting!" Bumble Bee exclaimed over the com, frustrated.

"Well, them reroute it somewhere useful!" Guardian responded back as he took out another drone.

"Mal—I mean, Guardian, you're a genius!" she exclaimed.

Minutes later the power core behind us glowed brighter and the light spread into the veins of the wall. A second later the light faded and the drones all simultaneously dropped to the ground. "Yes! Great job, Bumble Bee!"

"His own machine stunned him. And I'm guessing with a little help," Superboy said over the com.

Bumble Bee appeared seconds later at her normal size and immediately embraced her boyfriend. I turned away and walked towards Supercycle. "Great job, everyone," Nightwing said over the come. "Now rendezvous ASAP so we can bring you home."

We all meet in the hanger. We meet with Beta squad and waited for Alpha squad so Delta could dock. I ran up to my sister and gave her a hug. "Glad you're safe."

"Same," she replied.

Delta Squad docked seconds later. "WOOOO! Do we rock?" Batgirl exclaimed.

"Girl, we rock," Bumble Bee yelled back in excitement.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Blue Beetle said in the same exicted tone.

"Not over here there wasn't," Guardian stated, "Where's Alpha?"

"Trekking along with the 'Big Bad'. The guy must weigh an actual ton," Arsenal stated over the com. "We're a few minutes out."

Impulse shared a fist bump with Robin and then raced over to my sister's side. "How's your shoulder, Beautiful?"

I raised my eyebrow in question as I looked her. I expected her to give me a sarcastic look but she paid no mind to me. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she rubbed a spot on her arm. "It's fine…..thanks….for asking," she said softly.

"No problemo," he said with a large smile but in a softer tone as well.

"Hmmm," I said loudly startling the two of them and caused Impulse to jump away from my sister a couple of inches.

"What?" Cassie snapped at me.

I gave her a small smile and simply walked away. I stood on the outer rim of the room, the young teenagers all grouped together discussing their victories. Minutes later, Alpha squad slowly made their way into the room with a giant unconscious Mongul. I gave an affirmative nod to Superboy who returned it with one of his own.

"Well, the gang's all here," Blue Beetle announced. I turned to look at him just in time to see him smash the crystal key in the back of Impulse's head. My eyes widened in horror as I watched him fall to the ground unconscious and Blue Beetle turned his sonic cannon onto a group of team members. I ran to grab my sister's hand. "Cassie, we have to—" I was cut short as Blue Beetle now had his focus set on us. I put up a shield to deflect the hit, Cassia wasn't so lucky as I watched her fall to the ground.

"Blue Beetle, what are you doing?" Superboy shouted. Blue looked to him and flew, hitting him into the wall and trapping Wonder Girl under the unconscious villain in the process. I tried desperately to wake up Cassie and there was no use.

"Arsenal, NO!" I heard Bumble Bee cry. I turn my head to see his form.

"I will not be taken again!" Arsenal said as he pressed a button on the wall. Immediately the doors to one of the docking bays, causing a vacuum. I hurried and formed a shield blocking myself and unconscious team members from being sucked into space. Blue Beetle made quick work of stopping that move slicing a control panel and closing the door. There was very little oxygen left in the room. I discovered as he shot down Wolf, Robin, and Bumble Bee. The only other one left standing was Superboy who was worse off than me.

"…..Why?" Superboy croaked out.

"Don't waste the oxygen," Blue said cynically, "There is very little left in here."

I looked around for something, anything to help. Then Arsenal popped out of nowhere, launching himself across the room via a grappling hook. Blue Beetle took aim to take him out but Superboy dove in front, taking the shot. Laying on the ground Connor looked at me then blinked to the open door. I took that as my que and ran, forming my shield tighter around myself to take the preserved oxygen in it with me. I looked over my shoulder to see Blue knock him out one final time.


	14. Chapter 14

I kept running until the oxygen in my shield was all but gone. I stopped and let the shield dissipate and breathed in a huge gust of air. I wandered around until I realized where I was and made my way to somewhere useful, the power core room. Once there I crawled behind the power core and broke into its protective covering and basically burrowed myself into the giant machine. I began taking inventory. I looked at my com, it had been broken or sabotaged by Blue Beetle causing all my attempts at communication at the Watchtower to be met with silence. I still had one of my guns with a fun two clips, I had a rebreather which would come in handy if someone were to just happen to open the door to space, and several other things that could come in handy that I found in my utility belt. Arming myself with the gun I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I attempted to make my way back to the hanger. Key work…attempted. On the way I came in contact with Reach soldiers. They chased me for several minutes leading me to a huge room. I found shelter and got my gun ready. I turned around and shot three times in succession taking out three of the Reach soldiers. I ducked down again and waited for a paused in their advance when all of the sudden I hear another group come.

"Arsenal to team come in. Code Red," I heard a voice say. I could just barely make out what was said over all the shooting. I watched him over the edge as he threw a grenade at the group after him, taking out all of them. I watched as he shot his grappling gun at a walkway over head at least two stories high. I got up and took out the rest of my guards.

"Arsenal!" I shouted. I jumped out of my shelter and made my way to the small group that had recovered from the grenade. I shot out several energy discs and took them out from behind. Arsenal looked down from overhead and waved with his arm.

"Come on, we don't have much time before more appear!" he yelled down to me.

I formed and energy disc and jumped on it and raised me to where he was. "Glad to see I found you," I said then I punched him in the arm. "What the hell were you thinking? Opening the hatch to space! Frankly I should shoot you for being so stupid." He just silently glared at me. "Oh please, that doesn't scare me, now let's go I hear footsteps."

We wandered around for hours and i felt like we were going in circles…all the hallways looked the same. We were both quiet, we had nothing to say and frankly we both knew what the objectives were. Find the team. Find communications. Find shelter. Not particularly in that order. We felt we had made a milestone, finally. We hit a turn and took a right and found a podium that had a keyboard on top. It was all in alien.

Arsenal kept trying different sequences of keystrokes. "Come on, come on, you dumb machine," he said after another sound clearly informing us that we were wrong. "Just give us an outside line to the watchtower, the warehouse, anywhere."

"Arsenal calm down before—" My statement was cut short by him bringing his arms down onto the display, damaging it. I pursed my lips and let out a huff. "Before that happens," I said exasperated, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said as he stared down at his hand ruefully…..obviously not _fine._

Before I could say anything a couple of doors ahead of us, down the corridor, slide open revealing two Reach solders. "Great with us basically out of ammo." We both ducked behind the podium as they began shooting at us. A shot ricocheted off of the podium, "Ha, that's what you get," Arsenal said towards the machine. It let out a distressed noise as it began to lower down into the ground. "Now you are just being petty."

"We need to get out of here," I said urgently trying to see a way out.

"Working on it," Arsenal said as he let out a shot. I turned around to see it was a direct hit taking out one of the guards and knocking him into his companion. "That was my last shot."

"Well now the odds work in our favor," I said and we simultaneously ran towards the lone guard. We jumped out of the way of his shots and arsenal took him out with a swift kick to the jaw.

"You'll never pod me again," Arsenal yelled down at his figure. "Never!" he walked away and grabbed the handle of the weapon.

I followed and grabbed the other guard's weapon and followed. "Arsenal."

He didn't answer and just kept walking. I let out a huff of air and continued to follow. We wandered around again for a much shorter time period until we finally found another one of those stations. I broke into the side with a Swiss army knife I keep in my utility belt and dug through and found the power cord. I detached it and with arsenal's help we were able to connect it to his arm to charge it.

"Raw power, now we're talking the same language," Arsenal said with a smirk as he detached himself from the machine. I smiled and went to respond only to be cut off by the sounds of weapons firing off and shouting.

We ran down the corridor and hid in the shadows as we looked down onto the lower level. My eyes widened in shock when I saw who the Reach soldiers were going after. "How in the hell did they get up here?" I asked myself astonished.

"Aren't those the Reach runaways?" Arsenal asked. "The ones that have been missing for like a month?"

"Yeah, not so much as missing more as kept in secret," I told him honestly, knowing he wasn't going to tell anyone, he doesn't care enough to. "I've been keeping an eye on them helping them with their powers. They have gotten better."

"Still bares the question of how they were able to get here," Arsenal stated, watching the group below us curiously.

"We'll follow them and find out," I said as they began to move. We followed them for several minutes. Before I spotted the reason as to how they got here. "I think Asami is holding a Mother box."

"Hmm, how'd they get their hands on one of those?"

"No idea."

We followed them into a giant room. With hundreds of columns of tubes. My eyes widened as I saw the Team in several of them, frozen. I made a move to go for them as soon as I spotted Connor and Cassie. "Wait," Arsenal said, "Something doesn't feel right. You'd think the Reach would be guarding this."

That's when Black Beetle appeared. "Shit, we have to help them."

"I'll go help them, you go and try to figure out a way to get the team out of those tubes," he said. I looked at him to retort but he cut me off. "Face it, Sis, I've got a lot more energy than you do."

I pursed my lips, "Fine, be safe."

"Course."

I made a shield that floated me overhead and landed me onto the tubes. I began to break in using the Swiss army knife and tried to go through using the wires. Everything I did didn't work. Arsenal came up behind me and grabbed me after firing his grappling gun and bringing us away. "I have an idea." Without saying anything else he fired using the alien scepter and shot at the control panel of one of the tubes and sure enough it released its inhabitants.

"Son of – Arsenal you let out the wrong person," I shouted at him as I watched the large alien Mongul fall out of the tube and to the ground.

"Wait for it," Arsenal said, "I know what I'm doing….for once."

"Carter, when did you get here?" Ed said confused.

"Explain later," I said as I looked at the released alien wake up on the ground. Black Beetle caught sight of him.

"Mongul! This is all your fault!" he glared at his form on the ground.

"Reach," Mongul growled out and got up and ran for Black Beetle. I took the handle of the Reach weapon and shot it at the tubes containing out friends. I jumped down from tube and ran towards my sister's hunched form on the ground.

"Cass, come on we have to get out of here."

"What happened?" she said rubbing her eyes with a groan. "I feel like crap."

"Let's go!" Arsenal ordered toward the Team. I looked to the others to see them still confused and disoriented, "Move!"

"You heard him, Team! Move out, let's go," I yelled as I helped Cassie up, "That includes you, Runaways!"

We all gathered around the front of the main door and Arsenal handed out everyone's confiscated weapons. Arsenal stood at the panel to open it. "Okay get ready," he warned. "There's a squad of Reach soldiers on the other side, waiting for us." he turned and pressed the button on the panel causing the massive door to open to a group of soldiers alright, unconscious ones. At that moment I have never been so excited to see Nightwing and Miss Martian.

"Hey, Fearless leader," Arsenal said towards Nightwing sarcastically, "Better late than never."

"Everyone safe?" Nightwing asked not paying any mind to Arsenal.

"For now," I answered but I looked back over my shoulder at the destruction that the two huge aliens were causing. "But we need to move out before they change that."

"The crystal key?" Nightwing asked.

"Gone," Arsenal responded.

"Yeah like we should be," I stated. A loud crash was heard from behind our group.

"Yeah before those two decide to declare a winner!" Arsenal announced.

"Right." Nightwing agreed, "Move out."

We placed the weakest in Sphere and began to move. Nightwing came up next to me. "You alright?"

I shrugged. "In better shape than most of the team," I said as I stumbled he caught my arm and gave me a concerned look. "I'm fine." I walked ahead of him and caught up with the runaways. I wrapped my arms around Virgil and Eduardo. "I am so proud of you guys."

"Thanks, Carter," Virgil said with a big smile on his face. "Glad we did you proud."

"Especially after everything you've done for us," Eduardo agreed.

We walked that way for a little bit until we reached the hanger. "All aboard," Miss Martian shouted, "We're almost home."

The team all shuffled onto the ship. Nightwing, Arsenal, the Runaways, and I all stayed behind. "I think congratulations are in order," Nightwing spoke with a smile. "No training, no guidance, and yet you pulled it off."

"Actually," Virgil said quietly blinking at me and back to him. "We have had a mentor and a bit of training."

"I figured," Nightwing glanced at me, "When we get back, after a debrief, there might just be a spot for you guys on the Team."

"Really?" Virgil said excited.

"So now that we save your butts, you're cool with us not being STAR lab's guinea pigs," Tye said un-amused.

I cleared my throat, "Tye," I had pulled up my mask and gave him a look. "Not now." He gave me a defiant look before heavily sighing and a whatever under his breath.

"Before we head back, we need to talk about Blue Beetle," Arsenal stated. "He betrayed us!"

"Look who's talking!" Bumble Bee said from her spot. She placed her hands on her hips and stared Arsenal down as she approached us. "Last thing I remember is you blowing an airlock without warning! Nearly got us all killed and absolutely guaranteed our capture!"

"That is so not true!" I defended, "The majority of the Team was taken out with a single move from Blue and without his PTSD episode neither of us would have got out to save your ass!" I felt Nightwing grab my arm I yanked it out of his grasp.

"After eight years on ice, there was no way I was getting grabbed again! And in case you hadn't noticed it is because of me you are standing here, free. So how about a thank you?"

"You're right, Arsenal," Nightwing said placing a hand on arsenals shoulder. "Thank you, and after we get back on Earth. You're. Off. The. Team."

My mouth dropped in shock and there was a calm silence before I exploded. "Are you _fucking shitting_ me right now?! It was your choice to send him here on mission when Black Canary and I told you it was too soon. I told you he was having episodes and you paid no fucking mind to my input! So it's your fucking fault that he had an episode. HE SAVED THE FUCKING DAY and you reward him with this? By kicking him off the Team? The people that are supposed to be helping him? The people he should rely on most?"

"There have been other incidents, Carter, you know that," Nightwing tried to argue back. "Yes, he may have saved the day. But this isn't the first time he has pulled a stunt like this. Intentionally endangering the lives of team mates to further his own agenda or guard against his personal demons. It's unacceptable. So until you prove yourself a team player, you have no place on this team."

"And? When has there _not_ been an incident on a mission? When do they ever go to plan? You're not being a leader, you're being Batman. Something doesn't go right you exclude them. If Aqualad were here Arsenal being kicked off the Team would never be a thought!"

"Well Aqualad isn't here right now, isn't he?" Nightwing snapped.

I lunged forward and pushed him in the shoulders. "And whose fucking fault is that?"

The whites of his mask slit with the glare he was giving me. "Let's get aboard and get out of here," he ordered. "We can discuss this further when we're not behind enemy lines."

"Sounds like there's nothing left to discuss," Ed told Nightwing.

Virgil stepped forward and grabbed my arm. "See, we don't need your help getting back to Earth. Or you offer to join the Team. We have our own way of doing things and someone who hasn't let us down. Come on, Carter."

"What do you say, bro?" Tye asked Arsenal. "Wanna ride with us?"

"Sounds like a plan," Arsenal said, smug. The five of them looked to me with a swift glare at Nightwing, I nodded.

"Sure does," I said in agreement, "Now let's go."

Asami smiled at me before pulling out the small box from her pocket. Upon closer inspection my eyes widened as I realized what it actually was and apparently Nightwing did too.

"Wait! Is that a—"

"Home, please," Asami said cutting him off. A swirling yellow mist formed around us in circular motions from our feet pulling us into the ground. We dropped onto the couch in the apartment and I grabbed the technology from her hands.

"Were the hell did you get this?" I asked glaring at them.

"So am I right in thinking congratulations are in order," a voice said from behind me causing me to freeze. I spun around on the heel of my feet to face a computer with a video chat set up with Lex Luthor. "Carter, good to see you again."

"I can't say the same about you, Luthor," I snarled at him.

"Lex Luthor has got you running errands on the war world?" Arsenal exclaimed from behind us. "He's the reason I'm missing eight years of my life and my arm! Don't you get it? He didn't care if you rescued the Team! He was using you…as a distraction to lure Black Beetle away from the crystal key so one of his other pawns could steal it."

"Mmm, Death stroke is more of a bishop actually," Luthor said from behind me. "But I'm not sure I understand the problem. You rescued the heroes and gave a blow to the Reach. Isn't that exactly what I promised you?"

"That is the last promise you will ever make to them, Luthor!" I whirled around, "You will leave them alone!"

"So protective over them are we, my daugh—"

"I am not your daughter!" I exclaimed as I threw the Father box at the computer along with a small energy ball exploding the computer to pieces along with the Father box. I whirled around to the group of teenagers. "You are to never come in contact with Lex Luthor ever again. He tried and you immediately shut him down."

"How were we supposed to know, Cater?" Eduardo said.

"Yeah," Virgil agreed, "He came knocking on the door with his creepy bodyguard and said you sent him. He said you guys needed help and we were the only ones that you could count on."

"Virgil, no matter what situation I am in, I will _never_ send someone for you guys to come bail me out. I am not going to risk your lives for my sake. I promise that till my last breath," I swore. "Now you guys need to gather your things. We need to move you before he decides to tell the Reach you are here."

They all made their way out of the room to get their things. "Where are you going to bring them?" Arsenal asked.

"Ollie's place in Arkansas," I told him, he nodded in agreement. "I'll be a couple days, so let Mom know will you?" He nodded.

After a few moments of silence he approached me and gave me a one armed hug which I returned….this usually doesn't happen so I'll take it when can. "Thanks for defending me."

"That's what sister's do," I said honestly. "I love you, Roy, always have always will. Come to me for whatever alright?"

He released his hold and gave me a smirk. "Got it."

"Now don't get in to much trouble," I said as he walked towards the door to make his exit.

His smirk widened, "No promises."

I rolled my eyes, "Bye, Roy. Keep in touch." With that he opened and closed the door behind him.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Hey you guys TLG19 here and sorry i've been kind of bad about updating. Between school, two jobs, and volunteering ive been just a tad bit busy. however y'all are still on my mind so i had a break and i figured it was time to treat myself and you guys. so here is chapter 15 its kind of short but a lot of little clues are in here so watch out! update as soon as i finish the next one!**_

June 12

I rubbed my forehead with my hand as I leaned my head away from my phone where my sisters was currently shouting through the speakers breaking my eardrum.

"Look, I know I said I was going to be home last week, Cassie, and I'm sorry but they need me right now. They are still adjusting and we are making excellent progress with their training. I can't just leave four teenagers by themselves in a cabin in Arkansas!"

"Yeah, well, we need you too, Carter," Cassie said in a whining tone.

"No you don't, Cassie, between you and Zatanna there is enough magic to definitely break the mind control of the Reach in Blue and Green Beetle. You just want me to come home because you miss me," I said matter of fact-ly.

"And because I'm worried about you. They don't know the entire situation. They can't help you if you get stuck in your thoughts and go into depression again."

"Cassie, I'm always depressed, some days I'm just good at not showing it. Besides things are better now, time heals and all the jazz," I said sarcastically.

"Oh really then how are you going to react when he's back?" Cassie said.

"Well that's probably not going to be for a while—"

"Try in the next couple weeks."

I paused, "What do you mean?"

"According to Dick, there is a big meeting going on between the Light and the Reach in the next couple weeks. The plan is to take the Reach down and possibly the Light if we cover all of our bases."

"Well I guess…kudos to you. I know you guys will take them down," I said slightly astonished.

"Wait, you aren't coming for this? This is like the endgame, Carter, we defeat the Reach, and we get back Kaldur and Artemis. Even Wally is coming and he's retired," she said rushed.

"You guys can handle it, the guys need me right now. I can't just leave four teenagers with super powers unsupervised."

"What about Kaldur? You finally get him back." she asked agitated.

"I can't live like this anymore Cassie. I'm done, I'm retiring. I want normal. A normal life, a normal job, normal problems," I paused, "….a normal relationship."

"Yes, because training super powered teenagers is such a normal recreational activity, Carter, just like t-ball," she said sarcastically. "What about these past six years? Are you really going to throw that all away?"

"No, these six years will always be a part of me. Including this past year," I said furiously, "I will not live in fear that he is going to have to leave again. I want normal and he just isn't it."

"Really because he was it a year ago." More sarcasm.

"Yeah, well, he left a year ago, shit happens. You know what, Cassie, I don't need your negativity or sarcastic comments. Now I hear them waking up just like I hear the end of this conversation. Bye."

In a quick motion I pressed the end button and chucked my phone over the balcony. I waited for a satisfying sound of the phone shattering but I didn't hear it. I looked over the balcony to see Eduardo holing my phone in his hand. "You know this thing almost hit me in the head," he said waving it at me. "I could have died."

He vanished into a haze of yellow and appeared next to me on the balcony. "Talked to your sister again?"

I gave him a curt nod. "To nag me to come home."

"You can go home you know," he said with a shrug, "We kind of got it around here."

I shook my head, "That's beside the point, I don't want to go home. It holds nothing for me besides my job, my things, and my siblings who walk on egg shells around me. I can't be happy there anymore."

He nodded in understanding. "Things get easier, Car, you find the place you belong with time. I think I've found mine."

I nodded and gave him a smirk, "I'm sure it had something to do with a certain girl that speaks Japanese."

"I think I heard something about Virgil making pancakes," he said quickly and vanished in a yellow haze.

They have come a long way with their training. I barely have input since they now have a better understanding of how their powers work. I give little aids and words of wisdom here and there but mostly they are self-efficient. Until it's time for hand to hand combat.

"Come on, you guys! Virgil, you're up. Show me what you got," I said standing in a fighting stance.

He smacked his lips and gave me a look of a whiny two year old. "Why do I have to go first?"

"You have bad luck, I guess," I said with a smirk. "Come on, I'll making it quick." He came at me with an attack. Which I easily blocked and deflected. "Stop being so predictable. Be spontaneous. Having a dance routine will end in your death after fighting the same group of villains in a month."

"How you can you be spontaneous…with a strategy?" he said in between blocking my hits.

"Watch your opponent watch how he or she moves his body a certain to avoid a weakness. It can be small like only using a certain foot for weight in an attack. Favoring a side. Your strategy if finding their weakness without exposing yours. Your goal is to knock them on their ass and getting what you need out of them. Information, their arrest, you can't reach your goal with the same set of moves." I round house kicked causing him to bounce back. I threw in a series of punches and another round house. Finally something clicked in him and he began fighting back. He actually did really good and even included some attacks with a small concentrated electricity.

"That's good, Virgil, keep at it." the fight ended minutes later at a draw. I must be out of touch because my body ache and I was fatigued. Ty, Eduardo, you guys go next I'm taking a break." I began walking over to the bottom of a tree where all our stuff was in search of the bottled water I place in my bag just a little while ago. Halfway through the trip my vision started getting fuzzy and I collapsed on the ground.

I woke to four teenagers arguing over head. I open my eyes, turning my head away from the sun and focused on the conversation.

"What do we do?" Ty asked slight panic in his voice.

"What do you mean what do we do?" Virgil asked severely panicked. "We take her to a hospital or somewhere with a doctor!"

"Or how about we try to wake her," Eduardo said matter-of-factly, "You know like we are right now with our yelling."

"Guys, I'm fine I just need water."

"You _fainted_ , Carter," Virgil said, "Fainted! We need to take—"

"Me back to the cabin for water and air conditioning," I said holding out a hand. "Help me up."

"But—"

"Virgil, water and air conditioning."

"Fine."

After getting back to the cabin and drinking two bottles of water, they finally relented their watch and relaxed. In the back of my mind I was still curious as to why I fainted. I chalked it up as dehydration and downed another bottle of water before going to bed.


	16. Chapter 16

June 16

I sat on the plane in coach and stared out the window for the several hours flight back to Palo Alto. I figured it was time to get back to reality and I had to get back to work. Also it was a huge relief to stop my sister's nagging. the only thing that concerned me was leaving the guys on their own. However they made several promises and I felt comfortable leaving them on their own.

The flight was short, almost too short. I walked to the carpool lane to grab a taxi when i saw a blonde haired woman that basically made me groan internally as i saw her blue eyes find me. I approached her cautiously.

"You missed family dinner," she said icily.

I flinched slightly at her tone, "Something tells me you aren't really that angry about that."

"We need to have a talk." If the look she was giving me and the tone she spoke with were any indication, I was happy I was too old to be grounded.

"Mom, I kind of just want to go home and unpack-"

" _Now_."

I gave her a glare. "I'm not a child, i have responsibilities," I said angrily.

"This isn't me talking," She said giving me a knowing look. "Adam needs to have a talk with you."

"Oh really, well, Adam can wait," I said sarcastically. "If he is so pissy about what I did, he can come talk to me instead of sending my mother."

I walked away from her and out the automatic sliding doors to the curb. I raised my hand in the air to hail a taxi. It was quick, seconds later one appeared. I grabbed the handle on the door and pulled it open. Only for her to slam her hand on the door closing it and knocking me forward.

"Carter, please stop acting like this," she said in her mom tone. "There is only so much I can do to save your ass."

"What did I do wrong? Just because the kids aren't where they want them and can't force them to be little heroes, I'm the bad guy?" i whisper yelled at her.

"You went behind our backs, Carter, and endangered their lives," she said furiously

"Oh and placing them at Star Labs where all the villains like to target is so brilliant? If they didn't run away in the first place they probably would have died going up against volcano guy." I snapped back. "You guys sometimes need to realize the best plan isn't always your plan."

"That maybe but you went against orders, Carter. How can he be a proper leader if you won't follow his orders? You are supposed to be an example to the Team."

"Why don't you go ask Dick why I don't follow his orders? Matter of fact mention Kaldur while you're at it." I forcefully opened the door against her hand and climbed into the cab.

"Everything alright?" The cab driver asked staring at Dinah who was still right outside my door.

"Just a little arguing over the cab," I said with a fake smile, "Can you take me to Stanford Campus please?"

"Sure thing, Sweetheart," he said as he pulled off the curb. I looked into the rearview mirror to see she was no longer standing at the curb.

I didn't get home until 9 that night and what was there waiting for me had me furious in seconds. "What the he'll is this?" I basically yelled at the group of people that sat in my living room. Sitting on the couch were M'gann, Cassie, and Connor and standing in various parts of the rooms were Dick, Wally, Oliver, Dinah, and of all people Orin, King of Atlantis.

"Sit down, Carter," Dinah said in her Mom voice.

"Is this an intervention?" I asked astonished. "It's a little late, don't you think? I've stopped drinking-"

"Carter, please, sit down,"Oliver said quietly but with slight authority.

"I'm quite alright with standing," I said icily.

He let out a heavy sigh, "Fine. Be that way, just as long as you listen to what we have to say." He turned and looked at Dick.

"I told them everything," he started, "About the plane, Kaldur being undercover, Artemis, everything."

I rolled my eyes, "Took you long enough."

"Carter!" Dinah snapped authoritatively.

"I told him to tell you when she "died" do you know how hard it was to keep it a secret as I watched you mourn over her!"

"He was right to keep it in a close circle of who knew. The less people who knew the better," Dinah said in that fake voice she uses when she hates what she is saying because she believes different.

"Yes, because you or Oliver or King Orin would out your proteges!"

"Carter, please," Oliver pleaded.

"What? What do you want me to do? Be ecstatic that he finally told you? He should have already."

"He can not change his actions, Carter, he may only use his wrongs to make his rights in the future," Orin said very diplomatically. "He is working hard to get back our Kaldur."

"He can try as hard as he can but I will never get my Kaldur back," I said angrily.

"And how can you be so sure, Car? You are just making assumptions based off your worst fears," Wally said.

"You don't understand because Artemis is different Wally. She was raised by bad blood and she was able to break free of that. She can still come back almost the same because she's done it before. Kaldur is different, he was so good. He had good roots, a bright future. Yes, changed he might still be good but there is a lot of bad that he has done. He has to live with those actions and the changes they have caused him for the rest of his life. He is different from my Kaldur," I ended on a sorrow note.

"Carter, I was in his head the entire time when I was kidnapped," M'gann said softly. "It hasn't changed that much."

I shook my head, "He is different with me. He is more open, more expressive. When I saw him, he had so much regret and anger. He had so much pain it almost hurt to look at him."

"So do you Car," Cassie said speaking for the first time. "You carry a lot of anger too. And sadness and pain. Think about how you were just a couple months ago."

"Yeah and look at how I am now, Cassie. I'm a recluse rehabbing alcoholic with eating issuers and insomnia! Being in this life is like poison. I' done with its effects, I want normal. I don't want to be a hero anymore!"

"And he just isn't?" Dick said icily.

I narrowed my eyes, "I don't have to answer to you of all people," I snapped at him.

I grabbed my bag and turned around to storm out of my own home. When a gust of wind hit me and Wally stood in front of me. "Wally, please move."

"No, you keep running away from your problems and your feelings, Carter. You can't run forever."

"I'm not trying to run. I'm trying to leave because I don't want to be here," I said in a whining voice. "I don't want to feel like I'm being prosecuted for making decisions about my life."

"Why? Because we're telling you the truth and making you realize you're wrong," Wally said sarcastically.

"No, because there is nothing to be wrong about. I've changed, he's changed. I don't want to be a hero anymore and he still does. I'm not going to wait around until he makes up his mind and I'm not going to make him choose," I told him angrily.

"So you're choosing for him?" he said with narrowed eyes.

"No, I'm choosing for me. For what's healthy for me. For what's best for me. I'm thinking about me, "I specified.

"You think we don't think about you either?" Dinah replied from her spot.

I turned around. "Of course not. You're my family, Mom, I know you are going to think you know what's best for me. But it's for me to decide."

Everyone was quiet for a moment. "Make your decision after you talk with him."

I turned to look at Connor. "What?"

"After this is all over, the mission is over. You need to talk with him. Let him decide for himself, instead of assuming," he clarified. "You of all people should know how it feels when someone decides your life for you."

I turned my head to the ground. And as I thought about it, he was right. I was assuming what Kaldur wanted. How the hell do I know what he wants when in haven't seen him for months? After ragging myself for a few minutes I looked to my brother. "You're right. I'll talk to him."

After my revelation, we discussed a little more before, finally, they got the heck out of my house. Cassie, thankfully, left with them. Leaving me to my piece of mind. After closing the door behind them I made my way upstairs to my room. I threw my bag next to my dirty laundry and took off clothes and tossed them into the overflowing hamper. I took and nice long well needed shower, which was needed if the smell of my clothes was any indication. The smell of the forest combined with the smells of the airport and taxi was a disgusting combination. An hour later, I was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels on my TV dressed in my pajamas clutching a glass of wine. I fell asleep after the second episode of a rerun series I liked as young teenager.


	17. Chapter 17

We moved into position just as Ra's Al Ghul ripped off Artemis's glamour charm.

" _Artemis_ ," Savage spat out her name.

"I don't understand?" Ambassador said confused. "I thought Artemis was dead?"

"So did we all," Savage said angrily, "But it seems Tigeress is Artemis."

"This is a glamour charm," Ra's Al Ghul said holding the yellow stoned necklace in his hand. "Created I'd wager by Zatanna or Doctor Fate to hide Artemis's true identity."

"But Kaldur'ahm killed Artemis," Ambassador asked, "If she lives, and in disguise as his lieutenant. Then that means—"

"That means Aqualad duped them all," Black Beetle declared, "Including his own father." He let out a dark chuckle.

Ambassador let out a heavy sigh. "Ugh, kill them both."

Black Beetle stepped forward his forearms changing into large blades. Manta ran forward and stood between Black Beetle and Kaldur. "No, you will not kill my son."

"He's right," I turned to see the voice come from Deathstroke who had a gun out. He fired off a shot. I flinched at the sound and jumped as I saw Kaldur fall to the ground. I felt a hand on my shoulder and met Superboy's gaze. I took a deep breath and nodded before turned back to the scene unfolding in front of us. I watched Artemis fall to the ground as another shot rang out. "The Light takes care of it's own."

I watched as Black Manta moved to cradle his son in his arms. Kaldur's lips moved as he said something to his father before going completely limp. I heard a slight beeping before a hologram of him appeared on the other side of the room.

"If you are watching this then your summit is truly over," his voice said. "The Light and the Reach deserve each other. Both sides play at being partners, but the Reach believes the Light to be their naïve tools of conquest. When in fact the Light has manipulated the Reach from day one."

"Shut this off," Savage ordered angrily to Deathstroke.

"How?"

The hologram continued. With a screen appearing behind him of the alien wanted signs for the six Justice League members. "It was the Light that brought Earth to the Reach's attention by sending the Justice League to Rimbor. The Light set their trap and the Reach snapped at the bait. Fulfilling the Light's desire to thrust our world into intergalactic spot light. Part of their perverse survival of the fittest scheme for the planet. Which they believe will transform the Earth and the Light into the eventual rulers of the Milky Way. Though the Light made the deal to help Reach take Earth they have also sabotaged the Reach's efforts," a slide show of Black Manta shaking hands with the Reach Ambassador and then another was four pictures of the Runaways. "They kept the enhanced meta-teens out of the Reach's hands. They put neutralizing agents into the Reach's drink, "a picture of the Reach cans appeared. "So that the Earth's population would not become surveil. They turned public opinion against the Reach and they intentionally allowed the Team access to the scarab temple to cleanse Blue and Green Beetle. So you see, any agenda either side imagined they shared was nothing but a carefully crafted illusion. I trust I have shattered that illusion as well as whatever remains of this sorry alliance. Good night." The image vanished.

"Kaldur," Manta said from his place holding Kaldur's body. "Kaldur, what have you done?"

"He has done in death done more to damage my plans than any living creature has rote in fifty thousand years," Savage said angrily, "I'd be impressed if I wasn't so—"

Ambassador let out an angry yell stopping his rant short. "You earthlings are a pestilence and a plague!" he yelled furiously. "You dare sabotage us! You dare betray us! Have you forgotten who controls the War World? The Light is fortunate we do not carve up your planet as we speak!"

"That would indeed impress," Savage said as he walked up to meet the Ambassador head on. "As I have the War World's crystal key."

"That is all I needed to know," Kaldur's voice said echoing through the cave. I snapped to see him stand a rush of relief rushed through me.

"Kaldur? You're—"

"Alive?" Kaldur asked cutting off his father. "Yes."

"If you would?" Artemis spoke. I turned to see her on the ground with a hand raised to Rah's al gul. She sighed and placed her hand on her hip. "And I always heard the Great One was such a gentleman," she said sarcastically as she rose from the ground. I smirked and held back a laugh at her antics.

"Impossible," Savage spat out in shock. "Deathstroke killed you both."

"Just for a little while," Deathstroke said. Suddenly a sword found its way to Savage's throat. I turned to see Deathstroke with a glowing green eye. "After all, I wouldn't want to do any permanent damage," Deathstroke transformed into Miss Martian. "To my best friends. Not what a little misdirection and Hollywood special effects could do instead."

"For we value our true friends," Kaldur declared. "And unlike you we are not short on them." Just then the Team started popping out of their hiding places. Bumble Bee, Guardian Superboy and myself at one location. Nightwing, Batgirl, and Kid Flash at their place on the other side of the room.

"Hey there, Vandy?" Kid Flash called Savage in a baby voice, "Did you miss me?"

"Well played," Savage said, "Well planned, but the Light always has contingencies." The Brain's top began to glow bright purple and within seconds several entrances to the cave closed including the one behind me and the cave's top opened up to reveal the night's sky with the moon and War World in full view. At least three dozen of the Light's goons fell out of the sky and surrounded the groups of the Team. "I've had my fill of your interference. Do not expect to survive. Kill them all. Superboy may present a problem. But well deal with him when the other children lie bleeding on the ground."

"Still you refer to us as children," Kaldur said with an air of arrogance. "No wonder our successes mount, you consistently underestimate us."

Suddenly from around the room, some of the Light's minions began to pull off their masks to reveal the faces of the other members of the Team and on cue the fights began. I lunged forward at the nearest Light soldier, fist first hitting him square in the jaw. He was out cold and I moved onto the next one which happened to be one of a duo going after Silver Magic. I ran up to him from behind grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back. As he fell to the ground I kicked him in the head hitting the helmet on the ground making a resounding thud. I heard him groan slightly before attempting to get up. I jumped back as Silver kicked the other goon and land on top of mine.

"And you thought you weren't going to come to the final battle," Silver Magic sang.

"Yeah, yeah shut up and go get the bad guys, would you?" I stated sarcastically as I wrapped the two of them in a shield and threw them at the growing pile to be hog tied and arrested.

"It is true," I heard Savage's voice echo from his place. "The Light has always underestimated you young heroes. But no more, it is time." I turned to see Klarion appeared from a portal. Savage stepped into and vanished but not before Klarion made the sword Miss Martian had aimed toward savage into a snake.

"Cowardly meat!" Black Beetle roared. Just then I watched as he stepped forward with his arm in the shape of blades and pierce Ra's Al Ghul's heart from behind. My eyes widened in shock but I didn't have time to dwell. A couple of Light minions took notice of me and decided to come after me. Big mistake. I kicked up one of the Reach soldier's scepters at my feet and caught it throwing it at one of them. I ran over and ripped it out of the man's chest before swinging it and knocking out the other. One of the Reach soldier tried to sneak attack me from behind, he got knocked out to. I whirled around and had my weapon at the ready when I realized the fight was over.

I fell back and sat on the ground. I began taking deep breaths before letting out a laugh that echoed through the cave. I turned to look at my sister. "That sure does beat working in the lab in the action category."

She let out a laugh before coming over and collapsing on the ground next to me. "Aren't you happy I convinced you to come for one last mission?"

I nodded my head and gave her a one armed hug. "Yes, I am."

We stayed like this for a couple of seconds before we both got up and made our way over to the group.

"I had hoped to end this tonight," Kaldur who stood of his father's unconscious body. "But Savage escaped with Klarion. As did Black Beetle with the Reach's head scientist. Luthor and Queen Bee never showed. And even Ra's Al Ghul will no doubt—"

"Are you kidding me?" Dick cut him off. "Kaldur, you won!"

"Won?" Wally said in disbelief. "Dude, you triumphed!"

"You've crippled the Reach and literally broken the Light in half!" Artemis continued picking up the yellow glamour charm. "Even took down Deathstroke before the summit began! And since we holographically recorded the entire deal, we'll be able to use their own words against them to clear the Justice League!"

I walked forward before placing a hand on his shoulder. He jumped at my touch but made no other movement. "Kaldur, you completed the mission," I said quietly. "You stopped the invasion. You are safe, Artemis is safe. You did all that you could, the Team and Justice League can get the rest." I closed my eyes as my sight began to get blurred. I grasped his shoulder tightly. " _Please come home."_

Suddenly I was in his arms and I let out a noise that was a combination of a laugh and a sob as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I looked over Kaldur's to see Beast Boy tackled hug Artemis. She let out a surprised laugh. "What was that?"

"I'm still just so glad you're alive!" Beast boy said with watery eyes. He released his hold, "And that Aqualad's not a traitor!" He turned to Dick. "No more faking anyone's death for at least a year. Okay?"

"How about no faking anyone's death _ever_ ," I said releasing my hold on Kaldur and smiling at Artemis.

"Yeah, seconded," Wally agreed putting an arm around Artemis's shoulders.

"Agreed," Kaldur said squeezing my hand. I felt the smile on my face grow wider. I turned to look up at him and I realized how much of an idiot I was to think that I could live a life without him. As the others began to talk about the major win, I watched as Kaldur moved to look over his shoulder at his unconscious father on the ground. I squeezed his hand and caused him to look at me and I gave him a look hopefully communicating that everything was going to be okay. At least I hope it would be.


	18. Chapter 18

June 19

5:24

Kaldur had gotten changed and back into his old uniform which made me happy. As he walked out of the locker room donned in his red suit, I let a smile grow on my face. "I like you a lot better in red," I said shyly.

"As do I," he said as he wrapped me in an embrace. "We need to go meet the others."

I nodded, "Yeah, I know," I said with a lite whine.

He gave out a chuckle causing us to shake. "We will have some alone time later, I swear it," he says pulling back and cradling my face in his hand. I leaned into his touch as he ran his thumb along my cheek.

I leaned forward and place my lips to his. I pulled back and nodded. "Okay." We pulled away until the only thing touching was our hands.

Aquaman, Red Tornado, and Nightwing met the two of us. We stood on the major deck of the Watchtower that overlooked the Earth's hemisphere. His old mentor approached us first. Kaldur stood at attention and looked to the floor in respect. "My king."

"Kaldur'ahm," he said with a smile on his face. "Congratulations are in order for your victory. I am proud."

Kaldur looked up and smiled, "Thank you, my king."

"I agree with Aquaman's assessment, Aqualad," Red Tornado said.

"My thanks, Red Tornado," Kaldur replied.

Nightwing approached us. "I am now officially returning command of the Team back to you," he said with a huge smile on his face. …..I wanted to kill him. I was partially happy that my eyes were covered by my mask because even Nightwing would have flinched.

"Congratulations, Kaldur'ahm," Aquaman said to his former protégé.

"This is unnecessary," Kaldur insisted, thankfully for his sake. "You have done brilliant work leading the Team under the most trying circumstances."

"Yeah, Nightwing, don't you think he deserves a break," I said in clipped tone.

Before Nightwing could speak, a boom tube opened up right above us. Kaldur moved me behind him and Nightwing took out his eskrima sticks. Black Lightning, Captain Marvel, and Black Canary all fell to the floor unconscious and the boom tube closed.

"Mom!" I exclaimed as I ran and fell to the floor next to her body. I turned her gently onto her back and check her wrist for a pulse, giving out a heavy sigh when I found one. "They're fine just unconscious," I said in relief, "Where were they at?"

Nightwing's eye slits widened and turned to the large window that spanned the entire height on the Watchtower. He called out, "The War World's been activated!" he said in disbelief. I looked over and through the glass saw the large planet sized ship traveling away. "It's leaving Earth's orbit. Heading out into space." He turned to us. "Uh… is that good news or bad?"

"Depends," I said looking at him. "Where do you think Savage is taking it?"

There was an eerie silence which I didn't like one bit. We moved the three unconscious heroes to the infirmary to lay down until they woke. I stood next to my mom's bed and turned to see Kaldur walk in. "Hi," I said quietly. "Why are you still dressed?" I asked curiously as he still had his suit on. I had already changed out of mine and had been waiting for him.

"Blue and Green Beetle and myself need to go take down Black Beetle," He said carefully.

My body visibly sagged. "So I'm going home alone," I stated emotionless.

"I will be back as soon as possible," he declared.

"Yeah," I said looking away and at my mom. "Of course, you will," I said bitterly under my breath.

He stood at the door away from a moment before stepping forward and placing a hand on my shoulder. "I promise." I nodded not trusting my voice, I felt him place a kiss on my hair and leave shortly after.

I stayed in that chair seething for I don't know how long before getting up and making the trek for the zeta tube. I zetaed to Palo Alto and began walking home lost in my thoughts before I felt fatigued. I stopped my trip to the house and walked to a shaded bench. As I sat I felt around the environment. It felt disturbed different something was altering it unnaturally. I got up and ran back to the zeta tube. There were several Justice League members including my mom and dad who watched me run up to the computer.

"Computer, Blue Raven B04 search for any high scale disturbances. Weather, natural energy, temperatures, everything and mark on global map now," I ordered.

"Carter, what's wrong?" My mom came up behind me.

"I don't know, something is messing with the natural energy fields," I said searching the incoming data the computer was sending. "I felt it in Palo Alto, it was small but enough to cause fatigue. There are weather disturbances in Gotham, Star City, New Orleans, Paris, the list keeps growing. Incoming messages from police stations nationally alien technology appearing to cause severe weather changes. We need to get the Team and League together asap."

"We will send League members," Captain Atom stated, "Call Nightwing and alert the Team members."

Within the hour, League members were dispatched and Nightwing, Blue Beetle, and Aqualad were getting updated by Captain Atom with a small Captain Atom on his shoulder while I got more data.

"The natural disasters are escalating," he said in a worried tone. "The rest of the League is spread thin saving lives across the globe."

I rolled my eyes, _Always so dramatic_.

"It's Black Beetle's MFDs," Blue Beetle stated. "The Magnetic Field Disruptors that the Reach seeded in multiple locations across the Earth. They are causing a deterioration of the planet's magnetic field which in turn is causing these not so natural disasters. I can locate all the MFDs—"

"Done," I said causing him to pause. I pulled up on the computer a global map with red dots indicating their locations. "I have correlated police reports, weather disturbances, and highest energy field disturbances and plotted them. Also calculated the rate at which they chrysalize… the odds aren't promising especially without a way to take them out without accelerating the rate of reaction or causing them to blow up a hemisphere."

"How do we shut them down?" Captain Adam looked to Blue Beetle.

He shrugged, "I don't know because Black Beetle didn't know," he said sorrowful. "There's no failsafe, this was an endgame."

The computer alerted and pooped a new window. " _Incoming message from United Nations, Secretary General Tseng Dangun."_

The video feed opened and I was displeased at who I saw in place of our caller.

"Luthor, what are you—" Captain Adam started dramatically.

"Secretary General Seng was kind enough to let me borrow his frequency," he said annoyed, "as I have a possible solution to our mutual problem."

A problem created by you and the light," Captain Atom said angrily. "When they collaborated to bring the Reach to Earth.

Perhaps but as I believe you know the Light always planned to betray the Reach," He looked down and held up a USB drive. "Lex Corp has developed anti-Reach software, a virus that should disable the Magnetic Field Disruptors. Now I believe time is of the essence."

"And why exactly should we trust you?" I asked icily causing his gaze to turn to me.

"Because, _Darling,_ you should always trust your Daddy," he said with a sinister smile before cutting the feed.

"I am going to hate this," I said grabbing my gear and started to make my way to the locker room to change.

"Where are you going?" Captain Adam demanded stopping me in my tracks.

"To the locker room to change," I said as if it were obvious. "We need all hands on deck."

"We will have it covered," he said, "There is no need. We will sending you to fight into an environment that weakens your powers."

"I am fine—"

"What does he mean by it weakens your powers?" Nightwing enquired with Aqualad and Blue Beetle looking at me concerned.

"When the MFDs first went up I started feeling fatigue from the energy field disturbance," I said annoyed. "It is no big deal I can still shoot."

"I would feel much more comfortable if you were to stay up here in safe range," Aqualad said concerned. "You can monitor our progress let us know of any changes and new MFDs appear."

I stared at him annoyed. "I will be fine," I stressed.

"I would not like to take the risk of you turning out to be not fine," he stressed back.

We had a staring match for a few minutes. "Is that an order?"

He paused, "Yes," he finally answered with authority. "Notify all Justice League members and the Team and tell them to rendvous in Metropolis."

I walked back to the computer and threw down my bag before placing a com in my ear. "Attention all Justice League Members and Members of the Team, make your way to Metropolis immediately." I began to type away at the computer to confirm the locations when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to glance in his direction and turned my head back to the screen. "Yes, Aqualad, anything else you need to order me to do?"

He said nothing but saved there for a moment before grabbing me by my chin and tilting my head up to his to meet my lips to his in a kiss. "Stay safe and in the Watchtower."

My mind was still kind of clouded so I just gave a nod causing him to walk away. After a few moments I turned around in my chair. "Kaldur!" I called catching his attention as he turned his upper torso to face me. "Stay safe, don't do anything stupid."

He gave me a small smile and nodded before following the others to the main zeta platform. I turned back to the computer and took notice of how queasy my stomach was. I looked through the transparent screens and out the windows that looked over Earth. The disturbance in the magnetic field is getting worse if I can feel the effects from up here.


	19. Author's note

Hey you guys TLG19 here and I have some updates to share.

I will be doing a "Season 3" I just need to get some ideas rolling to start working on it.

The next chapter will be the last chapter I post for this season.

I am going through hell with school, two jobs, and volunteering you probably won't here from me for a while

I like mangos.

My favorite colors are blue purple, green, yellow,…..all of them.

One of the five statements above is a lie…..hehehehe let the games begin


	20. Chapter 19

"Alright, everybody, recap of Captain Atom's speech," I said through the ear piece. "Twenty drones, twenty teams, each of you have your assigned locations and will keep me updated on your progress. Make it quick, make it fast, and be careful and be warry of the Lex Corp technology. We have no idea if Luthor is true to his word."

I did as I was _ordered_ and stayed on the Watch Tower monitoring the progress of the Teams and the magnetic field of Earth. I noted every time a team reported in and requested updates every ten minutes. It was a nice distraction and felt like I was doing great work. It would feel more fulfilling and respectable….if I didn't have a damn babysitter. Beast Boy's tutor who used to be a high school teacher was transported to the Watch Tower for his _protection_. I felt like it was there BS excuse to have someone they didn't need disabling MFDs to keep an eye on me.

"It's looking guys," I said encouraging. "Half of the MFDs are already disabled and Earth's magnetic field is slowly approaching normal readings. Keep up the good work."

I turned to the screen monitoring the magnetic field and noticed something odd. I pulled up a 3D model and watched the movement of energy and how it was now moving toward a source in the North Pole. I looked at the monitors and noticed no one was free. They were either still disabling the MFDs or helping with cities damaged by the dangerous weather conditions. I looked to my bag on the ground and looked at my babysitter. I took out my ear piece and grabbed my bag. "Hey I have to go to the bathroom," I called to him seeing his curious expression.

"What do you need your bag for?" he asked suspiciously.

"It's that time of the month," I lied, "I'm having cramps and I need to take medicine and I want to change my—"

"Need say no more," he deadpanned and grabbed the ear piece from my hand and place in his.

"Thanks so much," I said with a smile. "I should be back soon but if not ask for updates in ten minutes." He gave me a nod and turned to the boards. I ran to the locker room and changed into my costume grabbing spare artic gear of my mom's before going to the hanger. I took one of the smaller jets and set coordinates for the suspicious activity.

After counting ten minutes, I was already through the atmosphere and slowly making my way down to Earth's surface above the North Pole. I dug through my belt and grabbed one of my spare coms, turned it on and place it in my ear.

"Okay, teams, update," Babysitter said nervously over the com.

"Where is Blue Raven?" three voices inquired all at once. I'm sure you can guess who.

"She was… she is in the bat—"

"North Pole," I answered. "Well technically I'm _over_ it but same thing."

"Blue Raven," Captain Adam said curtly. "You are to report back to the Watch Tower immediately."

"I will after I check out this disturbance," I said annoyed. "It was out of everyone's way, no one was available, and I'm here. If it's nothing I'll leave, if it's something—"

"You will also leave," Aqualad said sternly.

"I can take care of myself," I snapped back, "Have been for the past year thank you very much. Now if you'll excuse me." I muted the com just as I landed and made my way to the coordinates. I walked through an opening to a large cave live structure made of ice. I placed my ear to the com in my ear. "Blue Raven reporting, there is another MFD in the North Pole at its magnetic pole and we have a problem."

"What?" Captain Adam snapped.

"It's about to go chrysalis," I said as I pulled out a gun from my holster and began to shoot at one of the two drones. "Flash, you need to get here with Lex Corp egg, _now_."

"Blue Raven, you are to retreat immediately," Aqualad ordered.

"No, because if Flash doesn't get here in time—" I began.

"I am on my way along with Impulse," Flash cut in, "Carter, I will be there in ten minutes you need to listen and leave."

"No," I stated again.

"Carter Elizabeth, you will follow orders and head back to the Watch Tower, NOW," Black Canary said sternly through the com.

"Carter, please come back to the Watch Tower," Green Arrow said.

I ignored their pleas as I took out the drone and began working on taking out the other.

"Almost there, Carter," Flash said.

"I'm almost done taking out the drones," I informed. "Then we will only have to worry about—"

"Carter?"

"Blue Raven report."

I felt Flash and Impulse stop beside me. Flash moved his arm and pressed his finger to the come in his right ear. "Flash to Watch Tower, Magnetic Field Disruptor has already gone chrysalis." The second drone and the MFD fell to the ground. "I don't think the egg—"

"The egg is useless now," Lex Luthor's voice came over the com. "You're too late."

I shook my head. "No its not," I said as I watched the patterned movement of the energy. The giant sphere glowed bright seconds before it expanded and shatters the ice fortress around it. I shielded my face and turned to look at them." Run."

"What?" Impulse said shocked. "We aren't leaving you! You're sister would kill me—"

I rolled my eyes, "Not away, I said run."

"She is correct," Luthor said approvingly. "Together, you and Impulse should be able to negate the chrysalis by running—"

"Counter to the energy flow," I finished. "So run!"

Flash looked at me in disbelief, "Is it really that simple?"

"I wouldn't call it 'simple'," Captain Atom said over the com. "You'll be attempting to dissipate its power by using your own speed trails. It'll take a massive amount of kinetic energy."

"I'll try to help as much as I can," I said confidently. "I'll try to keep it condensed into your cyclone. Your job is to run and don't stop until it is completely gone."

They both nodded and began running. I stood a safe distance away and tried to channel the energy as much as I could and keep it in place. But as the kinetic energy built up the chrysalis began to fight back in a way and began shooting out lightening like strikes. One even came for my which I quickly deflected with a shield and formed it back into the cyclone.

"It's beginning to decelerate," I informed as I noticed the visible difference and felt the tension in the air dissipate little by little.

"It's definitely slowing but not stopping," Flash stated. "Even at our top speed, I'm not certain the two of us can generate enough kinetic energy."

Not even a second later a flash of yellow passed by and joined the other two Speedsters. "Then how about the three of us," Kid Flash stated. After a few minutes you could notice a change.

"It's working," I exclaimed. "The added kinetic energy is causing it to decrease at a faster rate!"

I saw a ship fly overhead. In the corner of my eye I saw the team file out. "Stay away, it's still not safe."

"As if it is safe for you," Aqualad deadpanned.

"I haven't died yet, have I?" I snapped back. I heard a cry of pain from the cyclone.

"Wally, are you okay?"

"Fine, just got hit by the dispersing energy," he said then I heard him make a sound.

"That's it, I'm coming in," I informed before making an energy disc and levitating myself off the ground. As I got closer I made a shield around myself and made small energy currents on the edge. Soon the dispersed energy became attracted to me and laid off of Wally. As the chrysalis decreased in size, the amount of dispersed energy increased its attacks on me. I grit my teeth and held the shield in place.

"It's almost gone," Miss Martian said enthusiastically. I loosened up my concentration to look and that was a bad move. Another hard strike came at me and blew up my shield. I was blown back and all I could feel was my back hitting the cold hard ground. I heard a loud series of cracks of several bones breaking. I heard the muted noises of people calling my name. As my vision began to blur the last thing I saw was the chrysalis dissipate completely.

I woke up later to the sound of an annoying beeping. I was being transported from the hanger to the infirmary on a hospital bed.

"She just blinked!" I heard a female voice call. "Carter! Carter, can you hear me?"

I turned to her voice and looked at her with blurry vision. I closed my eyes and began to fade again. "Carter! You stay with us!" I blinked open my eyes again wider this time and with clearer vision as I took in a slightly blurred outline of my mom's face.

"Sorry," I whispered. The action caused my throat to tickle and I began to cough I felt a warm substance come out of the side of my mouth.

"She has internal bleeding!" My mom exclaimed.

"We need to perform surgery, immediately," someone spoke. "We can't wait for Superman or another surgeon to arrive. We must start now."

"Someone call the surgeon and check on his ETA!" another voice yelled. I turned to the voice noticing its familiarity. Oliver was at my left.

"Ollie," I whispered and coughed up more blood.

"Shhh, you'll be fine, Carter," he said as calmly as he could while pushing the hair out of my face. I closed my eyes to the sensation and the last thing I remember was that annoying sound going silent.


	21. Chapter 20

Alright, guys, so yeah...sorry, not sorry, I did that to y'all. Had to end with a big dramatic event and of course cliff hanger it...I wouldn't be a good writer if I didn't keep you on your toes! So without further ado here is the next chapter...in Kaldur's point of view! Enjoy it, embrace it, love it, and comment on it!

As I watched her body fall from the sky, I began to run. As her body hit the ground with a series of deafening sounds, I began to feel numb. Superboy and I reached her first and for the first time I was confused at what I should do. Superboy looked at me and could probably see what I was feeling just from my facial expression.

"She'll be fine, Kaldur, she has had worse injuries," he encouraged but I could tell he worried too about his sister.

"We need to get her to the Watchtower," Flash said as he Impulse and Kid Flash made their way over to us. They still showed signs of exhaustion but still showed concern for her.

I nodded slowly, "Agreed."

Over the communicator in my ear I heard several people speaking all at once. It was very difficult to differentiate what they were asking. "Silence, Aqualad report!" Captain Adam ordered.

"The chrysalis has been neutralized," I spoke automatically. "Set up the infirmary."

"Who is injured?" Captain Adam ordered over the communicator as Superboy picked her up and ran her to the ship. I ran with him observing her and assessed her injuries as much as I could.

"Blue Raven," I heard Nightwing say behind me and through the intercom. "There is no sign of visible bleeding but possibly internal. She is unconscious and has several broken bones. Get ready and get doctors."

Superboy had placed her on a cot Miss Martian had formed as we boarded. I felt two hands land on either shoulder as I stood next to her. I glanced and notice Nightwing and Kid Flash on either side.

"She'll be okay, Kal, she's a fighter," Wally said attempting encouragement. All I could do was nod and hope that what he said was indeed true.

When we arrived at the Watchtower, they moved her to a hospital bed. They had a physician who hooked her up to machines that monitored her heart rate.

Her mother and father came to her side as they began rolling her away out of the hanger, I followed. She was not going to leave my sight.

"We need Superman," Her mother said frantically. "Where are they?"

"They are on their way, Dinah" Oliver said calmly but I observed his facial expression and he was just as worried.

"Not quick enough! We don't know what injuries she has," she said as she grasped her daughter's hand in hers. "Come on, Carter, you are a fighter. Fight this. Carter?" She paused staring at her face for a moment. "She just blinked! Carter? Carter, can you hear me?" I watched as her head turned slightly to look at her mother. "Carter! You stay with us!"

"Sorry," her voice came out in a broken whisper. She began to cough and I saw blood sputter on to the sheets that someone had covered her with when we arrived.

"She has internal bleeding," Her mother exclaimed.

"We need to perform surgery, immediately," a physician said from his place at the front of the bed. "We can't wait for Superman or the surgeon to arrive. We must start now."

"Someone call the surgeon and check on his ETA!" her father yelled. This caused her to turn her head towards him.

"Ollie," she whispered and coughed up more blood.

"Shhh, you'll be fine, Carter," her father said as calmly as he could while pushing the hair out of her face. Her father looked towards me and gestured me over. I moved over to the bed and as I went to speak her heart monitor let out an alert as she closed her eyes. Her parents and I were pushed out of the way as the others pushed her hospital bed. We made a move to follow but we're detained by Captain Marvel.

"Billy, let us through," Dinah ordered.

"It'd be better for you guys to stay out here," Captain Marvel said calmly.

Oliver approached Dinah and wrapped an arm around her. "He's right, Dinah, they will do all they can."

We all walked into the main room where the other League Members and the Team waited anxiously. Cassie got up from her place next to Impulse.

"What's happening? Is she okay?" she asked us.

Dinah reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "She woke up momentarily and coughed up blood. They rushed her to surgery."

I watched as Cassie embraced her mother figure and began to sob. I looked around and say the other faces change to worry.

There was silence momentarily before a loud noise disturbed it. Everyone in the room turned to the sound and saw Wally standing next to a wall. "This is my fault," he said angrily.

"Wally," Artemis said calmly. "This isn't your fault."

"No maybe if I had run faster or-"

"This is not your fault, Wally," Oliver said. "This is a hazard of the job. She was doing what we raised her to do, what we've raised all of you to do." There was a somber silence once again the only sound was Cassie's sobs.

An hour later, and the Team members left to go home to their families, they were concerned about their safety. I still stood in my place waiting anxiously. Nobody has yet to give us an update on her condition.

 _Recognized Superman 01, Batman 02, Wonder Woman 03, Green Lantern 05, Martian Manhunter 07, Hawkman 09, Hawkwoman 10, Icon 20_

"We came as soon as we could," Superman said urgently.

"No excuses," Dinah snapped, "Go in there and help save my daughter!"

He gave an urgent nod and flew down the hallway. Wonder Woman approached her friend and attempted to console her. "Nothing can make this okay, Diana. The only thing that will make this better is my daughter surviving."

"I am positive they are doing everything within their power to heal Carter, Dinah, do not lose your faith. I'm sure the gods have something big planned for her future."

In my mind I prayed to every eternal being in existence for it to be true.

Six hours. Six hours is how long it took for someone to give us anything. The physician nor the surgeon who arrived four hours ago came to us.

"She is stable, but we have a problem," the Surgeon informed.

"What's the problem?" Dinah asked.

They both looked at each other and then turned to us. "We believe the patient is pregnant," the physician stated.

I froze in place and looked to him. "What do you mean by you _believe_ she is pregnant?" I asked angrily.

"Her body has formed a shield over her abdominal region. The shield is quite impressive and apparently impervious to Superman's x-ray vision," the surgeon answered.

"However, during our blood test she had high levels of hCG. a pregnancy hormone," the physician explained, "Superman was also able to hear heartbeats. Three to be exact, one of them hers."

"Twins," I choked out, astonished.

"Could you go by the hCG levels to determine how far along she is?" Dinah asked, I felt her eyes on me.

"Unfortunately, they aren't a good basis even with normal human pregnancies," the physician stated. "But we can estimate by the heart rate since it varies in range throughout the pregnancy. With the aid of Superman we were able to estimate roughly between three to five months. It's hard to give a more narrow range since they are under distress."

My eyes widened as he said the range. I cleared my throat and looked to the ground. "She is approximately four months along." I felt the glances in my direction. I looked to the doctors, "I am certain."

"You knew?" Cassie screeched and would have tackled me had her brother and Wally did not catch her.

"No, I was not aware that she was with child...children," I said it oddly. "I know that is the last time we were together. I trust she has been with no one else."

"We will make sure it is noted for the Obstetrician that is due to arrive," the Surgeon replied. "We are hoping she will put down the shield."

"May I try to talk her?" I asked. "Maybe I can convince her."

"She is in a coma like state I'm sure she won't hear you," the surgeon said.

"She will," Dinah said from beside me. "She is always listening. She'll hear him."

The physician nodded. "Let's give it a try." They began walking down the hallway and I turned to look to Dinah. She nodded and gestured to follow them.

I followed them down the hallway and through a series or doors. We paused outside a particular door. They both looked to me.

"I am warning you, it looks," the physician started, "Well, you'll see."

He opened the door and stepped aside allowing me to step in first. I was not prepared for how fragile she looked at this moment. They had machines hooked to her body from every side and a tube coming out of her mouth to help her breathe. The majority of her body was covered in gauze. I carefully walked to the side of them bed. I reached out my hand a gently stroked her face. "What were her injuries?"

"A punctured lung, several bruised organs, even more broken bones," the surgeon listed off.

"Normally we wouldn't have promising results of survival but her body started healing during surgery. Her recovery time will be shorter than most but most likely more painful."

"Why is that the case?" I asked him sternly. "Why will she be in more pain?

"We can't give her a majority of pain medicine because it will affect the children in detrimental ways. Our goal is to come out of this with all three patients in excellent health," the physician answered.

I turned my head to look at her abdominal region and sighted a small shield the sat close to her body. I turned back to her face and noticed even though it was bruised and swollen she still had her certain beauty. I reached down and clutched her hand. "We'll make it through this," I said confidently. I looked to her stomach and laid a hand over it. "All of us."

so hey you guys i hope you enjoyed this chapter! i had a hard time writing it i know i was very vague with details but its only because when you are in the kind of state he is in ...you usually don't notice much


	22. Chapter 21

I overlooked the beach and closed my eyes as the wind blew in my direction. It rustled my hair as it gently caressed my face and my dress that fluttered against my legs. I felt a sense of peace, something I hadn't felt in a very long time. Apparently I wasn't the only one who was enjoying it as I felt light pushed coming from all sides of my stomach. I opened my eyes and looked down at my growing abdomen. I felt like it got bigger and bigger every day. Two weeks ago I lost the ability to see my feet. I smiled as I placed my hands against my belly. "I know, I wish we could stay here too. Someday maybe well have a house with a view like this."

I turned around and made my way back to the building where the nurses all greeted me as I passed them in the hallway. I made my way to my room and closed the door. I sat on the bed and sighed as I looked around the bland room I was currently living in. They tried to make the room seem inviting and hospitable with pale yellow walls or all things. Everything else was white. White chairs, white window panes, white door frames, white pillows, sheets and blankets, it is as if they never discovered any other colors. The only good thing about this place was the beach. They didn't let me go on it often and when I'd they always watched me from the observation deck. I know it was precautionary, but it was annoying to have someone always watching you…always expecting you to hurt yourself.

I don't belong here….I never tried to hurt myself. I have two little lives to worry about, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I just have some mental issues to get over. They've always been there…they just kept building and building until finally I broke.

 _ **One month before…**_

I began to open my eyes. My vision was blurred and I frankly felt like I had been sleeping for a month. I became conscious of a beeping to my right I turned to look and everything came into focus. I was in a hospital room I realized as I stared at the heart monitor. My eyes followed the clear tube hanging from clear bags filled with liquids to my arm. I reached over with my other arm and pulled out the IV. I bled for a moment or two before my skin healed before my eyes. I sat up and pulled back the blankets. I got out of the bed and grabbed the robe that was hanging from the hook. I made my way to the door of the room and opened it, noting the familiar looking hallways. _I'm on the Watchtower_. I began walking down the hall and into the main room that spanned the entire height of massive space craft. I turned to see Mal at the holo-computer monitoring a mission.

"Alpha is almost done extracting information from Lex Corp main frame," Batgirl's voice rang over the speaker.

"Good deal, Alpha," Mal said encouragingly. "Keep me updated."

I cleared my throat. "What are they getting information from Lex Corp?" I asked Mal.

His frame froze. He turned to look at me with wide eyes. "Carter?" he asked astonished.

I looked at him with scrutinized confusion. "Um, yeah, that is my name," I said confused.

He looked at me for a second more before wrapping me and a huge hug. "How? When? We have been waited so long for you to wake up."

"How long was I out?" I asked confused last thing I remember is the mission in Canada with the ice freaks.

"Carter, you've been out for a month everybody has been so worried. They'll be so happy."

"Oh wow a month?" I asked astonished. "It feels like just yesterday we were dispatched from the cave to head to Canada. Speaking of which…why are you monitoring the Team's mission in the Watchtower?"

He leaned away from me and stepped back. "Carter, what day is it?" he asked.

"Um, I don't really know I've been out of it for a month. But I'm guessing it's like May 23," I said confused.

"What year?"

"2010?" I asked confused.

"We have a problem," he said urgently.

"Why what's wrong?" I asked, worried about his tone.

"It's nothing…..its just…. just something I …realized about the Team's missions," he lied. "Why don't you head back to your room and I'll call everybody."

I nodded. "Yeah, okay. Where is Kaldur and my parents?"

"They had to go on missions, same with Cassie," he said.

I looked at him in confusion, "Cassie….as in a new member of the team?"

"Cassie, as in your sister," he said back with confusion.

I became furious, "That's not funny, Mal, seriously. How is my sister a member of the Team when she is dead?"

His eyes widened. "Um…sorry….that was ….bad of me."

"Yeah I'm just going to go back. Let my parents know I'm up and fine so they don't freak out alright?"

I didn't wait for his response as I turned around and walked back to my room. I didn't have to wait long, no more than thirty minutes, before Kaldur came rushing in. I jumped up from the bed and smile, before I noticed something.

"Kaldur, not to sound rude but why do you look so much….older?" I said confused as I looked at him. He had grown taller, his face had lost its childlike roundness and his features were more defined. His muscles I noticed…thoroughly… had become more defined as well.

"Carter," he breathed. Before he wrapped me in an embrace, it took me a second to react and return it. "I have missed you so much."

"What happened, Kaldur, to cause me to be in a coma for a month?" I asked curiously.

He leaned back, "What is the last thing you remember?"

"The last thing I remember was the Team getting dispatched from the cave for Canada. We had to stop the ice villains from freezing the natural hot springs," I said as I thought about my conversation with Mal. "Kaldur, how long ago was that mission?"

He paused and gestured for me to sit on the bed. "It has been a while since that mission."

I became alarmed. "How long is 'a while'?"

"Calm down, Carter, we will find out what is wrong, I assure you," he said strongly.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused. "How long has it been since that mission, Kaldur?"

He looked at me for a moment before he spoke cautiously. "It has been five years since that mission, Carter, it seems you have lost some of your memory."

I felt my jaw drop open for a moment in astonishment before I covered my opened mouth with my hand. "Oh my god."

There was silence for a moment before I heard a disruption in the hallway. "Let us pass, Mal!" I heard a female voice shout. "I will see my sister! Evom!"

"Cassie, wait!" I heard Mal yell.

I stood up from the bed as the door swung open. There in the door way stood a blonde headed teenager. She was dressed in a silver themed costume with her mask lifted to rest on top of her head to show her face. I looked at her face and my mind flashed back to a memory I had of her when we were children as I smashed a piece of birthday cake in her face as she turned another year older. My vision grew blurry and my body began to feel sluggish. I heard movement and felt my body get caught as I began to fall to the floor. My vision went black.


	23. Chapter 22

I began to register a light getting shined in my eye. I blinked and that caused the light to move away, but the room I was in was still very bright. "Ahh, here she is," a woman's voice said. "She's beginning to wake up now. Carter, My name is Dr. Henry."

"Mhmm," I said acknowledging her. "Can we dim the lights?"

The lights went dim and I opened my eyes. "Carter," a familiar voice spoke. I turned to see the concerned and aged blue eyes of Dinah, my adopted mother. I smiled as I saw Kaldur right behind her looking concerned, also.

"Mom," I said with a small smile. "What happened?"

"You fainted," she said brushing my hair out of my face. "You had me worried."

"Carter," I turned back to the doctor's voice. "My name is Dr. Henry, can you tell me what year it is?"

"2010," I said warily. "But I know that's wrong."

Dr. Henry gave me a sad smile. "No, I am afraid not."

"Well, what year is it? I couldn't have missed much right?" I joked but sobered quickly. "How much is missing?" I asked concerned.

"You seem to be missing about five years of memories," she said slowly, cautious about how she worded what she said. "But that is normal for someone who has been in a coma."

"Five years? But Mal said I've only been in a coma for a month!" I said panicked. "How can I have so much missing?" I heard the heart rate monitor speed up. Kaldur came to my bed side from his spot in the corner of the room. He pulled my hand into his I turned to look at him.

"Carter, you must calm down. You are putting your body under entirely too much stress," he said calmly giving my hand a squeeze.

"Kaldur, how can I be calm? I have five years of memories missing in my mind? Was that actually Cassie earlier? Was that really my sister? Is Jackson alive too? Where is Connor? Oliver? The Team? I want to see them!"

"Carter please calm down," Dinah begged. "Oliver is with them now."

"Tell them to come here," I ordered weakly.

"Carter," Dr. Henry spoke alarmed. "We need to do this slowly. Your heart rate and blood pressure are at higher numbers than I would prefer."

"My brother and sister have been dead in my mind for almost ten years and I found out that in the past five years they are alive and I don't have a memory of it. I _will_ be seeing them with or without your permission. Your choice, because either way I _will_ have my father bring in the rest of my family to see me." I said strongly.

She looked disheartened but nodded her head. "I'll allow it but I will be here to monitor how it affects you. If it becomes too exerting, we will leave and let you rest."

"I will promise to try," I vowed. I turned to Dinah. "Tell Ollie to come with everyone."

"Carter, the doctor just said—"

"That they could come as long as I don't overdo it," I told her. "Please I want to see them."

She stared at me for a moment before she placed her hand to her ear. "Oliver, come in with them."

Seconds later the door slowly opened to reveal Oliver's smiling face. "Ollie," I said with a huge smile. I slowly leaned up and reached out for him. He approached me and sat on the bed side and gave me a hug.

"We've missed you so much kid," he said softly into my ear.

"Carter," I looked over his shoulder to see the relieved face of Connor.

I smiled widely, as I noticed his face was the same. It was familiar a constant, something I really needed right now. "Connor! You still look the same, even after five years apparently!"

He coughed out a laugh. "Yeah, I guess I haven't changed," he said amused.

"It's nice, familiar," I said slightly embarrassed by my outburst. "It's comforting to know there is one thing less that I need to remember." I turned to crane my head to look over his form to peer into the hallway. "Where are they?"

He turned to his left and gestured over to someone. One person came into view and they were familiar but a stranger at the same. I could hear the machines spike slightly, I saw people in the room jump in concern. "Sorry," I said quietly. "I'm just trying to remember. It's hard, you look familiar but I just—"

"It's fine," Cassie said quietly. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. We've been worried."

I nodded. "I'm fine, at least I feel fine." I turned to Dr. Henry. "I am fine, right? Besides the amnesia?"

"All the injuries you sustained initially have healed," she promised.

"Well if I'm fine why do I need all these monitors still?" I asked gesturing to the several monitors attached to me in various places. Even strapped around my abdominal region of all places.

The room went eerily quiet as everyone frozen and went rigid. "It's all precautionary, Carter," Dr. Henry said.

"Yes, but are three different heart monitors really that necessary?" I asked gesturing to the one on my finger and the two underneath my gown on my stomach. That stumped her. She turned behind me and I saw her looking at Dinah and Kaldur. I looked between them. "I don't know something, don't I? What is it? There's something wrong isn't there?"

"Carter," Kaldur said grabbing a hold of my hand again. I turned to look at him. "You must calm down."

"I'll calm down when you tell me what the hell is going on?" I snapped at him.

He looked at me and I saw him falter. He turned to everyone. "May we have the room?" he asked them politely to leave.

"Are you sure this is the right time?" Dinah asked concerned.

"She has to know," he said confidently. She relented and slowly all of them left, including the doctor after a death glare from Mom. Kaldur closed the door behind them and sat on the bed. He grasped my hand in his and played with a strand of my hair that was resting on my shoulder.

"Kal," I said softly, snapping him out of his trance. "I need to know."

"It's hard to explain," he said pained. "So much happened and I wished you would be able to forget everything that occurred and you actually have."

"What happened Kaldur?" When I asked him, the look on his face assured me that what happened was anything but pleasant. I began to get weak kneed and partially nauseous to the sound of the heart monitor slowly increasing.

"Okay," Kaldur let out a long sigh as he ran his hand over his head a few times. "Over a year ago, I went undercover to infiltrate the Light. It was very hard on the both of us. The distance nearly destroyed us."

"Then I am glad I don't remember the pain," I said honestly, I grasped his face with my hand. "I'm sorry you have to remember yours."

"Seeing you like this again, is all I need to make that pain vanish," he said as he nuzzled my hand. "I feared the worst."

"I'm here now," I said, "Nothing to fear anymore. Besides, I just needed to keep you on your toes."

"I love you," he said with a laugh as he leaned forward and placed his forehead on mine.

"As I love you," I said wholeheartedly. I leaned forward and placed my lips on his. I sat back with a huge smile on my face. "Now, infiltrated the Light, devastated lovers, continue please. I want to get to our happy ending."

The smile on his face dissipated slightly before continuing. "On the night of New Year's, Savage had used the Justice League to attack a planet named Rimbor. The attack attracted the attention of an alien race called the Reach. The Light partnered with them. Both sides were not loyal to one another and in a summit we divulged their dis-loyalties and broke their alliance. The Reach had an alternative plan in place with mechanical alien devices called MFDs—"

"Magnetic Field Disruptors," I stated remembering the acronym.

He gave me a smile. "Yes, there were twenty one devices in various locations. We only knew of twenty, you found the last."

"I feel like this is going to end in me doing something reckless and stupid," I muttered.

He grimaced, "The MFDs caused your powers to be much weaker than normal. I had ordered you to stay on the ship and monitor team progress," he smiled at me. "You did not seem to like that order very much." I gave him a sad smile. "You left your post and took one of the jets on the Watchtower and went for the twenty-first MFD. You found it in the North Pole, when you got there is was almost fully chrysillzed Flash and Impulse were on the way to help stop it. They did not get there in time. You and …Lex Luthor figured out a way for them to dissipate it by having them run counter clockwise take it down with the kinetic energy they created. It began to work but not quickly enough Wally came to their aid and it began to work but the energy began to strike at Wally. You went to aid and absorb the attacks in one of your shields." He paused, "You became distracted and one of the strikes got through your shield and took you by surprise."

I got up from my place on the bed and stood in front of him. "I'm here, Kal, I'm fine and well."

"You almost weren't," he said grasping my hips and pulling me to him. He buried his head in my stomach. "You died, for twelve minutes your heart did not beat."

My mouth dropped open slightly. Tears welled in my eyes. "I—" I began to speak. "I'm so sorry."

He looked up at me and wiped the tears from my eyes. "You couldn't not have known," he said quietly. "I have never been so terrified to lose you."

"I am here and you will never lose me," I said strongly.

He stood up and pulled my body closer to his. I responded and wrapped my arms around his neck. We both buried our faces in each other's necks. "I hope to never lose any of you," he said kissing my neck. "You are my reason for existing and I will fight for all of you."

I pulled away slightly. "Who else are you talking about?" I asked confused. He pulled away a knelled down in front of me.

"During my time… away, I visited when the pain of being separated grew too much," he began. "On one of my visits, we created two miracles that are a representation of our love. Through our time apart you still held a part of me." He leaned forward and kissed my stomach in two places, right next to the heart monitors and it clicked in my mind.

"I'm pregnant," I croaked out quietly. He nodded as he stood up and cradled my face in his hands. "Two miracles," I said repeating his words. "Twins?"

He nodded again, "Yes," he said quietly.

I reached behind me for the bed as I fell onto the edge to sit down, he sat next to me. "Wow," I said in disbelief. I looked down at my stomach and noticed how it poked out. I placed my hands on my stomach. "I'm going to be a mom."

"A beautiful mother," he said honestly. "To two beautiful children."

I let out a watery laugh. "You are excited about this."

"I have always dreamed about having a family with you," he said honestly. "Is it sooner than I anticipated….yes. But it's a welcome surprise."

"I think you'll be a wonderful father," I stated honestly. The smile that graced his face as he spoke only proved the statement. The look his has held showed so much love for something that wasn't even present yet.

"As will you, be an excellent mother," he said as he leaned forward and placed a hand on my stomach and brought the other to my neck to bring my lips to his. The heart monitor went erratic as our lips fought for dominance. Minutes later the door was thrown open breaking us apart as we both turned to look at the door to see a smirking Dr. Henry with my parents in tow.

"I see telling her ended well," Dr. Henry commented.

I nodded. "It's unexpected and a lot to take in," I said honestly. I turned to look at Kaldur, I grasped my hand in his. "But I have the support to help me through."


	24. Chapter 23

_**hey you guys TLG19 here and happy hump day! so i have been working on chapters and i hope you like them even though they aren't full of action like we are normally used to. hope you enjoy and let me know with a comment below!**_

I was getting used to the idea. I've only known for three days, I still needed time to digest the fact that I had two little lives depending on me. I also still needed to digest the fact that my brother and sister are alive and apparently been in my life for the past four years and I have forgotten…stupid coma. I have been visiting with her a lot along with Kaldur and Connor and I'm happy to report that it has been going smoothly.

"Draw four," she said as she slammed the card down on the table.

"What the hell, Cas?" I exclaimed with a smile. "You are supposed to let me win!"

"Why because of the coma or the two buns in your oven?" she asked sarcastically.

"Both," I said with a smile as I drew the four cards.

"Well, too late you already drew the cards," she said smirking. We played for a couple minutes longer before she won the game.

"The Team keeps asking about you," she said as she began to stack all the cards.

I sighed, several people have mentioned it. "I just don't feel ready yet, Cassie," I said with a frown. "I'm still adjusting to everything. A couple days ago I thought I was sixteen, now I'm twenty one and pregnant."

She nodded, "I know," she said. "They are just getting anxious."

I nodded. "I'll see them in a couple of days," I said with a small smile. "I can't be away from that group of goofballs that long."

A huge smile graced her face, "They'll be excited when I tell them."

The next day, an obstetrician came and gave me my first look at the babies. I balled my eyes out as I stared at the alien looking creatures with their rapid heartbeats echoing through the room.

"Do you want to know the sex of the babies?" she asked.

I looked at Kaldur. We hadn't really discussed much of anything. "Can we wait?" I asked him nervously. I'm still getting used to the idea….I didn't particularly want the pressure of choosing the perfect names just yet.

He nodded, "Of course," he said with a small smile.

I nodded my head and continued to stare at the screen with amazement.

A few days later they had moved me out of the hospital wing and into normal quarters. I stood in front of Kaldur after getting changed from a shower. "I want to see them," I said confidently. "Our friends, I miss them. I'm ready." He smiled and kissed my forehead.

"I'll go call them."

Hours later we all stood in the main room of the Watchtower. I smiled widely as I saw their faces. "Hey."

They all smiled at my awkward greeting. Artemis stepped up first and embraced me in a strong hug. "If you ever pull a stunt like that again," she began to threaten.

"You'll skewer me with an arrow?" I asked amusingly.

She smirked. "Damn straight."

M'gann approached me next and I looked at her oddly. "What's wrong, Carter?" she asked concerned.

"Your hair," I said staring at it. "You had it shorter."

She smiled. "Yeah," she said as her hair morphed from the long hair she had as a teenager to a shot pixie cut. "You remembered."

I flashed a smile. "Small things are coming back," I said. "Dr. Henry says it might come back in flashes or all at one with a trigger. It's all up to my subconscious."

I went through the others Zatanna, Rocket, Mal, and Karen. When I got to Dick I just got unintentionally furious. When I was released from his hug my body reacted on its own…..and decked him. "I'm sorry, Dick, but for some reason I felt you deserved that."

Everyone was quiet for a moment before bursting into laughter. Dick grimaced, "Yeah I probably did," he sighted the blood on his hands. "Good hit."

"Thanks," I said with a smile. I turned to the laughing red head beside him. "Wally."

"Hey, Gorgeous," he said with a smile. He embraced me in a hug and I hugged him back. I felt his head turn in. "I am so sorry," he said quietly into my ear.

I pulled back, "What for—"

The memories crashed in my mind like a tsunami. I felt my body begin to buckle in pain as I let out a scream.

"Carter!" I heard Kaldur yell.

"It hurts," I croaked out. "My head." I kept watching the images whip by in my mind. "M'gann, make it stop," I begged.

"Kaldur, should I?" I heard her question.

"Yes, they are in pain," I heard him snap. Seconds later the images stopped and my mind was consumed by a comforting darkness.

I woke up to the annoying beeping…again. I opened my eyes and noticed I was in the same room. I shifted my weight and grimaced as one of the fetal monitors pinched my skin. I pulled up my t shirt and ripped the Velcro open to adjust it.

"How are you feeling?"

I turned to Kaldur and shrugged. "Better," I simply stated. "I have all my memories."

He nodded. "We all suspected you had," he said as he moved to grasp my hand.

We were silent for a moment just staring into each other's eyes before I looked away and down at our joined hands. "You were not lying when you said you going undercover almost destroyed us," I said as I remembered the images of me crying to sleep at night and excessive drinking.

"No, I was not," he said sadly.

"I want out of the game," I said turning to look at him. "It's safer for me…the babies. This life isn't good for them, for me."

He nodded in agreement, "It would be safer."

There was a dense silence that filled the room. "And you?"

"I don't know,' he answered honestly.

"You don't think you could let it go?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "The Team needs me."

"Kal, _we_ need you," I said quietly. "If all you are worried about is the Team's wellbeing they are well cared for. They have Dick, M'gann, and Connor. They are not short on mentors or leaders."

"I have only just gotten back," he said.

"Yes, after a year of being under cover and taking down the Light and the Reach," I said with a proud smile. "I am so proud of you and I'm sure they would understand after what you have been through if you want a break," I stated quietly. He looked at me with sorrow in his eyes and pained twinge began in my chest making the heart monitors spike. "You want to stay in the business." He slowly nodded his head. I pulled away from a moved over on the bed. I stared at the ground for a moment trying to hold it together. "I think you should leave now," I said in a detached tone. "I need to rest."

"Carter—"

"Please just go," I pleaded my eyes still on the floor. "I want to be alone right now."

He stayed in his place for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh and began to make his way out the door. I waited until I heard the door close. I fell back into the bed and buried myself in the covers. The tears became slow at first and within minutes they were freely flowing down my cheeks soaking the blankets.

 _I'm such an idiot for thinking otherwise_ , I thought. _I knew this was coming! But I thought maybe we were enough reason…_ I looked down at my stomach and place a hand on it, in between the monitors. _I guess not._


	25. Chapter 24

I was in a bad place for a couple days I barely moved from that place. I ate and drank what was given to me. Everyone tried to talk to me, except for Kaldur, I requested he didn't come visit for a while. I didn't hate him for his decision, at least I'm trying not to. He still has that drive to save people who can't save themselves, I just don't not anymore. I risked my life for this cause and almost died because of it, and almost took away two of the most important lives to me with it. I was growing used to the idea that I was going to basically be a single parent. Kaldur's time would be consumed by the Team and League business. That idea hit hard when the babies kicked for the first time and he was away on a mission.

After a week of being cooped up in the room, I decided I didn't want to be there anymore. I packed up my things and made my way to a zeta tube. I had bad timing because basically everyone was in the main room where the zeta tubes are being debriefed for a mission.

"Sis, where ya headed?" Cassie called calling attention to me.

"Going to head home," I called avoiding the gaze of certain someone. "Need to check into work update them on everything."

She nodded in understanding, "Be safe okay? Let someone know when you get home."

I nodded and turned around to the sensor. _Recognized Blue Raven B04._ I walked through into the flash of light and appeared in Palo Alto. Being home was strange. I placed my stuff on the couch and walked into the kitchen. I had a mission in my mind and it was going to get done, pronto. I grabbed every glass bottle I could find that was opened and gathered them up. All the wine bottles and liquor bottles I had scatter around the house I placed by the kitchen sink. Then bottle by bottle I poured the depressing liquids down the drain. I set a goal in my mind that I was never going to drink a drop of that crap ever again, pregnant or not. Then I went upstairs and walked up to the spare room we had. It was mostly filled with junk Cassie and I just decided to keep around just in case. I moved everything to the basement one by one by a shield. Once the room was cleared I looked at it and decided it'd be perfect for a nursery. It was the closest room to me and Cassie was in distance as well to help me, which I knew I was going to need.

I made dinner that night for two and began to come to the realization maybe I'll be going through this whole thing by myself. I packed the dinner and placed it in the fridge. Then I went upstairs grabbing my things on the way and made my way to my room. I was nervous standing at the door for several moments before actually even opening the door. I let out a sigh and pushed the door open it was exactly the same. I dropped my bags at the wall and made my way to the bathroom. Same as last time.

I took a shower after all the heavy energy lifting I needed it. I walked out of the bathroom only dressed in a towel and let out a scream at the scene before me. Blood everywhere my sheets were torn and scattered about the room stained red the curtain rod hung on only one side. I backed away and slammed the door shut and locked it. I hide in the linen closet and tossed towels and medicines out of the way to search for the emergency cell phone duct taped to the back of the closet.

I turned it on and dialed the first number. They answered after the second ring. "Carter, what's wrong?" Mom answered.

"There's someone in the house they trashed my room while I was in the shower," I rushed out. "There's blood everywhere."

"Is it yours-"

"No, no, it's not mine," I said urgently. "Just please get here quick."

They were here within minutes I heard them kick the door open down stairs and call out my name

"In my bathroom," I called out as I eased myself out of the closet and secured the towel around myself. I opened the bathroom door just as they reached it. What I saw behind them ticked me off. My room was the same as before. Clean and neat with everything in it's place. The sheets were on my bed and void of blood my curtains were in place and most definitely not hanging.

I looked about the room, running my fingers through my hair as I began to panic. "I don't understand... I know what I saw…..I…"

Mom wrapped me in her arms as I began to sob. I felt humiliated what happened? Was it really in my head? "Get dressed and I'll grab your bags. You are staying with us for a couple of days, alright?" I nodded into her chest.

Oliver and her both left the room leaving me with Kaldur.

"I was worried," he said after a moment.

"I'm sorry I'm seeing things now," I said in a negative tone. He flinched at it and I felt bad. "I'm sorry, that was rude. I'm just upset that I caused a scene."

He shook his head. "You were concerned about your and the babies safety. I am relieved you called for help instead of attempting to fight at an intruders."

"I'm not going to endanger my life anymore," I said simple. "I told you that when I said I'm getting out of the game. I have more to think about than just myself now." I stared down at my stomach and rubbed it causing the babies to go crazy and move against it.

"Are they kicking?" he asked curiously as I began to smile widely.

"Yeah, they started a couple of days ago…." I left it open ended so he could fill in the blanks himself. He knew he was on mission and I could see him realize it as he frowned disappointed.

He stepped forward and reached out a hand looking at me. "May I?"

I nodded and slowly grasped his hand in mine and moved it to slide underneath the one still one my stomach. They stilled at the movement for a second before going crazy and began kicking at his hand. His eyes widened in surprise and began to fill with love. "They feel strong," he commented.

I nodded. "Yeah, they feel like they will have heightened strength from you."

He smiled as I mentioned it. "I hope they get their beauty and intelligence from their mother."

"I hope they get your patience and your temperament," I said honestly. The last thing I needed was two impatient and angry children on my hands. He smiled and leaned forward to gently kiss me on the forehead.

"I shall leave you to change," he pulled away the last thing to leave my body was the hand on my stomach. He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. I got dressed and made my way down stairs to where my mom was waiting for me in the kitchen.

"Where did they go?" I asked as I zipped up my jacket.

"They got called away," she said with a sad smile I gave her a disheartened face. "Now let's get going I have dinner in the oven back at home."

"By dinner do you mean pizza you ordered?" I asked as I typed the code into the security pad.

"Mario's, only the best," she answered with a smirk.

"Extra pepperoni and cheese with marinara sauce on the side" I questioned practically salivating.

"One pizza and two cups of sauce just for you," she said as I locked the door.

I hooked arms with here and smirked as we walked the path to the zeta tube. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, Kid."

I spent three days at their house, mostly alone. Someone would come everyday to spend a couple hours with me. Cassie and Artemis mostly. Wally would come but apparently he is still nervous that he'll trigger something else…..the only thing he could trigger in me is the action him off a cliff for tip toeing around me.

"How are you adjusting?" Artemis asked as she handed me a cup of tea

I shrugged, "I have my days. I've been seeing a lot of things these past couple of days and it's beginning to scare me."

"A lot has happened in the past couple of years," she said with a frown

"Oh yeah," I said as I rubbed my belly and flashed a smile as they kicked.

"Are you and Kaldur going to find out the genders?"

"I don't know. I haven't talked with Kaldur in almost a week he's been ...busy." She gave me a frown. "It's just hard and if he's not here now he is probably not going to be here when they are. Missions training Atlantis business. I'm just growing on the idea that I'm going to basically be a single parent."

The conversation ended after that and shortly after she left at noon. I got dressed and made my way to the zeta tube, I figured I was long overdue for checking into work. My parents had told them I was in a bad car accident with a brain hemorrhage causing me to be placed into a medically induced coma.. .sounds like a lifetime movie plot. When I had arrived my advisors were surprised to see me so soon and to see me pregnant. Over the past couple of weeks my stomach has become really noticeable. We talked about several things when I was coming back, if I was coming back, what would happen to my research the list was endless. I stayed there for hours. When I finally escaped, I went on the hunt for food, the kids and I were starving. I picked up food and zetaed back to Star City. I arrived to my parents home expecting at least one of them to be there…..they weren't. I sat alone and ate dinner by myself….yet again.

I went back to work the next day with four student workers in tow. My advisors and I wanted to get as much research as I could possible before I went on maternity leave. The best part is I wasn't going to lift a finger. The workers were going to do all of the work under my close supervision. And that was able to fill my days. Everything was fine until I went to a bank is Star City to deposit my check from work. It started out as normal as can be. I walked through the doors, nodded at the security officer, and stood in the fairly long line at the desk. That's when the yelling began. Masked villains came in pairs from every doorway with assault rifles in their grasps. They barricaded and told everyone to group together and sit on the ground. When no one could move from fear they shot at the ceiling that had people moving. Everybody sat on the ground….except for me…..because I am an idiot.

"Hey why are you sitting down lady?" One of them came over and said to me darkly.

"I am a huge beached whale," I commented with narrowed eyes. "I can't get down."

"Well I can make you."

"Chip!" One of the others the leader I'm assuming. "Get the lady a chair!"

Chip didn't apparently like that answer due to the grumbling he was doing under his breathe. But dear old Chip got me a chair and I sat in it after a sarcastic thank you.

They went around doing the usual routine. They forced the manager to open all the drawers, they got all the jewelry and wallets from the customers….Chip wasn't all that amused when I told him all I had was my state ID and a cell phone. One thing that surprised me was they didn't ask to open the vault and they didn't leave as soon as they had the money in their possession.

"Okay boss when are we going to make the call?" Chip asked eagerly.

"Now," the leader said before walking over to a teller station and grabbing a phone from behind the desk. "Star City Police Department, this is the leader of a team that currently has Star City Bank under its control and I have two requests get me a private jet on the air strip. the second? I want Oliver Queen."

My eyes widened as I froze. _Something tells me this is going to be a problem._


	26. Chapter 25

The sirens were blaring outside. Police had the place surrounded and we were all still stuck here. This group had thought everything through, covering every window barricading all the exits but two, they planned this, scouted it, and I had no idea why. It wasn't for money, they would have cleared out the vault and left. What did they want with my dad?

The telephone rang. The leader who was lounging on one of the desks answered it. "Y'ello?" He played with a fancy pen as he listened. "Let the hostages go? Now why would I do that?" He began to laugh, "That was quick. Hey, Boys! Queen is here already. Well, let him come in." He stood up holding the phone with his shoulder. "Fine, I guess dear old Queen is worth a couple hostages. We'll send some out in a few minutes, oh and tell your officers to back off, wouldn't want them to accidentally shoot somebody." The leader hung up the phone with an echoing bang. "Well, you heard 'em, Boys, gather up some hostages and bring them to the door."

Chip and his partner came and grabbed people by the arm and forcefully pulled them up and shoved them into a group. The manager, and elderly man shook his head, "Let me stay, the pregnant lady can go in my place."

Chip snarled, "If I wanted her to go, I would have choose her, Gramps." He shoved the man into the line. "Now be a good little hostage and stand in line." The man looked to me and gave me a sad expression. I shook my head once. The two men brought them to the door and shoved them out one by one. When they were all gone, my father appeared in the doorway with his hands in the air. Chip grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the ground. They slammed the door shut. The two men grabbed by his shoulders and pulled him up roughly. He saw me as they lead him to the leader. I faked to scratch the back of my neck, signaling him not to comment.

They forced him to sit down in a chair and proceeded to zip ties his wrists to the arms. The leader shooed away his lackies and appraised Ollie for a second. He was leaning against the desk in front of my father, then he stood and proceeded to punch my father. I flinched at the sound.

"Oliver Queen, who knew that this day would finally come," the leader said.

"I'm sorry but who are you?" Oliver asked slightly angry.

"Oh, let's see if this can jog your memory," the leader said as he pulled down his face mask. It was an older man who looked worse for wear. His face was covered in peppered facial hair scars donned his face. I remembered him, he used to work at Queen Industries. Oliver had to let him and a hundred other employees go because of budget cuts and a bad economy. I looked over at the other men apart of his gang and the visible features that were shown all began to click. They were all old employees of Queen Industries.

"George Tanner?" Oliver said in astonishment. "What are you doing?

"What's it look like, Queen?" George sneered. "You ruined my life and now I'm going to ruin yours."

"Look, I know I had to fire you but I did—" _Punch!_

"No excuses, Queen, I needed that job and thanks to you I lost everything," he said angrily. "We all lost everything thanks to you."

"And I'm terribly sorry for that, but please take your anger out of me. Let the rest of the hostages go," Oliver pleaded.

George clicked his tongue. "I see you keep looking over at the hostages, Queen, you know someone over there?" George turned and looked at all of us and his eyes landed on me…. _of course_. "You, I remember you," he said pointing me out. "You're his girlfriend's brat."

"I'm who?" I asked confused. "I'm not even from here. I live in California."

"No, I'm sure of it you're the brat. You would always come eat lunch with him and the blond bitch," he said certain….. _I've been in this damn place for an hour and now you remember who I am._

Chip approached me and grabbed me by my forearm. He yanked me up from the chair and pulled his face mask down. "Yeah, I remember her too, Boss," he sneered. "This is Queen's pretty little step daughter."

I yanked my arm away from his grasp. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

He grabbed my arm again. "Look brat," he began but I cut him off...with a punch in the face. Him and his gang didn't like that to much because within seconds I had a gun pressed against the back of my skull.

"The girl has spunk," George said in a sinister tone as he looked at Queen. "Definitely related to you. Let the rest of the hostages go, Boys, we have two jewels right here."

 _Great_ , I said in my head as the man behind restrained my arms and brought me over to his boss. They shoved me into a chair next to Oliver. "Can you not be so rough with her?" Oliver exclaimed. "She's pregnant."

"My apologies," the man sneered. "Next time I'll take _special care_ of her." he said as he caressed my cheek with his finger. I leaned away with disgust. _Perfect, a man with a pregnancy fetish. Just what I needed._

Behind us they filed out the rest of the hostages carefully. They slammed a door with a resounding noise of the metal clashing that echoed throughout the building. I looked up at George. "What happened after you lost your job?" I asked curiously.

"Why do you want to know?" he said icily.

"Well, if you are going to keep me hostage for something Oliver apparently caused, I want to know what it is," I said as I relaxed in my chair folding my arms to rest on top of my protruding belly. "So let's hear it."

"After I lost my job, I lost everything else. My ex-wife kept my kids because I couldn't afford to pay child support. I lost my apartment because I got behind on rent. I had to sell my things to pay my landlord back and move back in with my mother," he said dramatically. "No one would hire me because of my criminal history. I lost everything because of him."

"And you blame my dad because your life sucks?" I said slowly. "It isn't his fault you lost your job, it's the economy's fault. He offered everyone their jobs back two years later. It isn't his fault you can't see your kids, it's your crappy ex-wife's fault. You lost your apartment due to a most likely douche bag of a landlord who wasn't understanding, also not my father's fault for the loss of your home and your things. And you could have gotten a job through your or a parole officer because Queen Industries is most definitely not the only establishment in the city to hire ex-criminals. Oliver Queen is not the cause of your life being ruined, you just placed all the blame into him," I said angrily.

"I did not get my job offered back to me," he said angrily. "That is a lie."

"Queen Industries sent out two hundred ninety three letters to addresses on file on October 12th three years ago," I said, "it even made the newspaper."

He narrowed his eyes, "Fine, maybe it happened maybe it didn't can't go back now, can we?"

"What are you going to do with us?" Oliver asked angrily.

Before he could answer the skylight above shattered to pieces. I ducked down and covered myself. I looked up once I heard the glass finish falling and I looked up to see Star City SWAT scaling down from the roof by wires. They all landed on the ground with hard thuds. I got out of my chair and got to the ground shielding myself with a chair as the shouting for surrenders began. I looked around and saw one by one they brought the criminals down to their knees. I heard shooting and I turned to see Chip get shot twice before finally falling to the ground unconscious.

I felt someone grab me by my hair and pull it. I let out a noise of pain and got up to stand as the man pulling my hair directed me too. My head got pulled back to rest on the man's shoulder as cold metal was pressed to my forehead. My eyes widened as did Oliver when he took in the sight. I heard yelling and shouting, I couldn't hear the words being said. I heard the noises of SWAT officers surrounding us with their loud footfalls, I couldn't see them. My visions began to cloud with tears as my breath began to labor, it got quick and high pitched. I began to sob and was unable to catch my breath. The shouting became labored and when I finally opened my eyes I heard a resounding gunshot that struck the man holding me. I felt a warm wet substance splatter along the right side of my face as the grip on my hair loosen. I felt a blanket wrap around my shoulders, I turned to see a SWAT officer he was talking to me, I couldn't hear his words. The only thing I could hear was my heart pounding. I felt hands land on my shoulder and I was pulled into the arms of Oliver. He held me to his chest and I could feel the vibrations reverberating through his chest. He was finally able to calm me down slightly.

The paramedics looked at the babies, they were fine, I wasn't. I wasn't physically hurt. I was just stuck in a fog and no one could get me out. Not my mom, my sister, my brother. Not Oliver or Roy or other Roy. Not Artemis, not Wally, not even Kaldur.

After days of them begging for me to respond, to show emotion. They sent me here to get help. It was helping but still wasn't enough? I couldn't help but feel bad for the two little ones kicking around inside my stomach for getting stuck with a lousy mother like me.


	27. Chapter 26

I stayed in that place for a month before my mom and sister came to pick me up and bring me back home. I packed my bag slowly as they sat in the room.

"Carter, I can pack that-" Mom started but I silenced her with a shake of my head.

"I'm fine," I said quietly. "I only have a few things left."

Silence filled the room once more. "Everyone is excited for you to come home, Cart," Cassie said excitedly.

"That's nice," I said with a small smile. "I'm happy to go home. I miss it."

"Good, we had your room at the house-"

"I'm going back to my home, Mom," I said cutting her off. "I need to get the nursery set up for the babies."

"Don't you think it's too soon to go home on your own?" she asked worried.

I shrugged. "Either house I go to, I'll be alone for the majority of the day, Mom," I reasoned, "You and Dad with work. Cassie with school. I might as well spend the time being productive. I have yet to even get anything for them and they'll be here in less than two months."

I was seven months along now and twins rarely made it to full term. My goal was to make 32 weeks but with my luck, who knows how well that will work out.

"That's what a baby shower is for," Mom said. "You need to rest right now."

"Mom, I promise to not overdo it," I said as I zipped up the bag. I tried to lift the bag and placed it right back down. I turned to Cassie with a sheepish smile. She let out a laugh and got up from her chair to grab the bag to place it on the ground. She pulled up the retractable handle and placed a grip on it.

"Is there anything else?" she asked. I walked….waddled into the closet and grabbed another bag.

"This is everything," I said.

"Well I'm just in time then." I turned to the doorway to see Nurse Joy standing there with a wheel chair.

"Yes, ma'am," I said with a big smile.

"Good deal! Well, you know the drill, Carter," she said with a smirk as she pushed the wheelchair over to me.

"I know," I grumbled. I hated using the wheelchair. It made feel like I wasn't in control. She helped me ease into the chair.

"Well just think this is the last time you are going to be using one of these. At least for a couple weeks," she said jokingly.

We got to my house and I got excited as I began to slowly make my way up to short flight of stairs. "Carter, wait up!" mom said laughing.

"Like it is going to take you _forever_ to catch up!" I yelled back. Cassie came to my side and grabbed my forearm to help me get up the stairs. "Thanks, Sis!"

"No problem," she said as she reached for the door knob.

She opened the door and in the living room was everyone...well kind of. The Team and some of the League members.

"Um, hi," I said awkwardly.

"We thought we would give you a coming home party. Is that okay?" Cassie asked worried.

"Its fine, it's nice to see all the friendly faces," I said with a small smile.

"Including this one?" I turned my head to the electronic voice that sounded familiar. On the TV was a skype session set up with Jackson.

A huge smile filled my face. "Jackie!" I squealed in excitement as I waddled closer to the TV.

"Hey, Cart, you look…..great," he said ending in a smirk.

I scoffed. "You were going to say I look huge weren't you?" I said crossing my arms over my belly with a raised eyebrow.

"You said it not me," he said holding his hands up with an innocent tone.

I narrowed my eyes and smirked. "Ass."

He laughed, "Love you too, Sis." His smile grew smaller. "So I have a present for you."

I made a face. "Jackson, you know how I feel about that."

"Yeah, yeah, no holiday no point. Consider it an early birthday present or something," he said sarcastically. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Oliver handing me an envelope. I gave him a look before grabbing it from him. I opened it and found a letter nestled inside.

"What is this?" I asked curiously as I unfolded the letter.

"Read it out loud and find out," he said with a smile.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion and looked down to read the words written on the heavy parchment with the United States Marines insignia on the top center of the page. "This letter hereby states the Sergeant Jackson Michael Callahan of Delta Alpha squad is finished with his Bialya tour effective December 1st," I finished reading quietly. I looked up at the screen with tears in my eyes. "You're coming home?"

"Sure am, Sis," he said with a huge smile on his face. "Just in time to meet the twins."

"Well, they might be here earlier than that but yeah, you'll be here," I said tearfully. I wiped the tears off my face. "Damn it, you just had to make the pregnant lady cry didn't you."

"Hey, at least they are happy tears. Those are always good," he said. "Well I'm sorry to cut this chat short but I've got to go, Sis. Someone else needs to use the connection. I'll call as soon as I can. I love you guys."

"We love you too, bro." Cassie said as she appeared at my side.

"We'll be glad to have you home," Connor said from behind me.

"Damn right," I said with a huge smile.

Jackson let out a laugh. "I'll see you guys in a couple of months," he said before the screen went black.

I looked down at the letter in my hands. "So the countdown begins?" I said with a small smile.

"He'll be out of that place soon, Carter," Ollie said as he came up behind me and laid his hands on my shoulder comfortingly. "He's a fighter."

"Of course, he is," Cassie said. "He's my brother, we dominate in everything," she said sarcastically.

Connor grabbed her in a noggie. "You dominate huh?"

"Oh, come on," Cassie whined. "You're messing up the hair."

"Oh, the hair," I said in mock horror. "Please let it not be the hair!"

Connor let her go and she glared at me. "If you weren't pregnant, I'd punch you."

I rolled my eyes, "Because that's _so_ threatening," I said sarcastically.

"Hey you'd be surprised," Bart came over and placed an arm over Cassie's shoulder. "She hits pretty hard."

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. "Hmm."

Cassie's eyes widened. "Bart get your arm off my shoulder," she stage whispered to him.

His eyes widened and he immediately removed his arm. I cleared my throat and Cassie let out a heavy sigh and stepped to the side to create distance.

"Seriously, I'm seventeen years old," she said as if it was an explanation.

"I know, I'm aware," I said simply. "Which is exactly why distance is going to be a thing."

"But you and Kaldur-"

"Hid our relationship for two months so we could get alone time, that's where you screwed yourself," I said with a smile.

She let out a groan, "You are so unfair."

I shrugged. "Whoops." I turned to Bart. "Before the end of the night, I and you are going to have a little chat."

"Why do I feel like it's not going to be a pleasant conversation?" he said slightly nervous.

"At least you have good instincts," I commented before walking away.

I walked up to Kaldur who stood quietly in the corner nursing a drink. "Can we talk?"

He nodded. "Of course." I gave him a small smile before leading us out onto the patio. "How have you been?" he asked curiously.

"I'm good," I said softly. "Why didn't you come visit me?"

"I thought you would want some distance for a while," he said softly. "I know you don't approving my choices and I know they made you upset with me."

"Yeah, they did, but it's easy to get over Kal I just….I really missed you," I whispered

He brought me into his arms and brought his lips to my ear. "You have no idea how much I have missed you as well."

I smiled and leaned back. "Can you stay like after the party?"

"Of course I'm sure they don't need me tonight."

"Good because we have a lot of stuff to talk about. Especially about these guys," I said looking down at my belly where the twins were kicking up a storm.

"Agreed," he said with a small smile.

We went back in shortly after and I was greeted by a very happy speedster two in fact. Wally gave me a hug and kept an arm wrapped around my shoulder. "So how are my nephews doing?"

I laughed. "You think they are both boys?"

Artemis snorted, "He did the weird science thing and the conclusion that the highest probability is two boys. They have a bet going on."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Seriously?" I asked, "What's winning?"

"Team boys," Wally said confidently.

"Of course," I said with an eye roll. "To bad you're wrong."

"What?" "You found out the sexes?"

I rolled my eyes, "Nope, but I love watching you squirm," I said devilishly.

Everyone else in the group laughed while Wally sat there grumbling. I just grinned before making my way over to the refreshment table. This girl and those little ones I was carrying were mighty thirsty.

Everyone only stayed for a couple hours before filing out to their homes. I closed the door behind the last ones to leave and turned to see Kaldur and Cassie standing there waiting. I looked to Cassie first and gave her a glance she knew very well. She nodded and began making her way to the stairs. "I'll be in my room if anyone needs me."

I nodded and waited till I heard the door to her room close upstairs. I turned to Kaldur, "What should we discuss first?"

He approached me wordlessly and stopped in front of me. "How do I fix this?" he asked looking at me with a knowing glance. "How do I make us right?"

I pursed my lips and looked to the ground. "You know what I want Kaldur," I said quietly. "But I can't make you do what you don't want to do."

"Carter," he began but I cut him off.

"No, Kaldur, I did a lot of thinking while I was at that place," I said. "And I came to the realization that—"

"I am resigning from the team," he cut me off.

I moved my head to look at him, my eyes meeting his. "What?"

"I did a lot of thinking to while you were away," he said. "And I came to the realization that I have been away from your side for way too long. The Team survived a year without me as their leader and they did wonderful under Nightwing's supervision, and they can continue without me. I am needed here with you, with them."

"Are you sure?" I said still in somewhat shock. "I don't want you to regret your decision. I know how much you love being with the Team."

"I am positive," he said confidently. "I will still aid in trainings, specifically La'gaan, and will aid if the Team is spread thin."

I nodded, "Of course, I understand," I said with a smile. He smiled back and grasped my face with his hands. He leaned forward and meet my forehead with his. I nuzzled my nose with his causing him to laugh.


	28. Author's Note2

Hey you guys TLG19 here and I have some updates to share.

i will be posting a new chapter by tomorrow night I PINKY SWEAR!

however until then i have something to ask of y'all

i have decided to "publish" a story i have been writing for a couple of years on watt pad and was hoping y'all would go look at it and give critics

at w w w. watt pad. com and type in fanastygirl0127 and the story is named In Plain Sight thank you so much if you check it out and i will get back to working on the next chapter ...now!


	29. Chapter 27

We got settled on the couch and continued discussing things that were long overdue. "So will you live here with me and the babies?" I asked curiously.

"I would hope to," he said with a smile. "If not I was planning on finding a living arrangement close by. I know the first months are the hardest and I definitely would like to be there."

I smiled. "That would help a lot. We'll also have Cassie here too and I'm sure the Grandparents will be around often too," I said amusingly.

"Did you want to find out the genders before they arrive?" he asked.

"If you want to that's fine," I said rubbing his cheek. "However, we have gone this long without knowing and have done just fine. What's a few more weeks?"

"Do we have anything? Clothes? Diapers? Bottles?" he inquired, "Other things baby oriented?"

I laughed, "No, unfortunately, but I'm sure we'll get the bulky of what we need from the baby shower. Dad also offered to pay for the furniture as a baby Christmas gift. We just need to go pick everything out. Have you thought about names?"

"I have," he said with a small smile. "But some of them may not fit well by…land standards."

"Well, you never know," I said with a shrug. "Give me what you have."

"Alena, for a girl," he said with a certain enthusiasm that made me smile wider. "It is Greek but I—"

"Love it," I said, "For a girl. But we still need another in case there are two girls and we need middle names."

"What are your names?"

I hesitated, "How would you feel if we have a daughter naming after my mother?"

"I would expect nothing less."

I smiled, "Then our second name will be Talisie or Johanna. Now how about boys?"

"Talbot?" he suggested. I made a face, "Never mind, Salomon?"

I shrugged, "Salomon is alright, what about Tanner?"

"It is alright, Manos?" he said repeating my words.

"How about Manuel? It's the English version," I suggest.

He smiled, "I like it."

"Alexander?" I suggest again.

He smiles, "I approve."

I smile, "Now what are their last names going to be….since you don't have one?" I ask curiously.

He looked puzzled, "I forget that I'll probably have to take up and identity to live on land."

I sighed and gave him a sad smile, "Only for legal purposes, but in our friends and families' eyes you will always be known as Kaldur or Kaldur'ahm."

He nodded and gave me a small kiss. "Let's get you to bed, today has been a long day for you."

I began protesting but was cut off mid-sentence to my own yawn. I laughed, "Fine, I guess I am a tad bit tired."

As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light. I woke up that next morning to the sounds of laughter and several different smells coming from the kitchen. I walked down the stairs to see Kaldur and Cassie cooking while laughing at something.

"Morning," I said with a smile. They both turned to look at me both with smiles on their face.

"Morning, Sis," Cassie said cheerfully, "I hope you and the womb monsters are hungry."

It is as if they knew the word already because they began kicking up a storm in my stomach. I giggled, "Yeah, I'd say they are hungry." I sat on the bar stool chair and watched them finish cooking. Kaldur poured me a glass of milk and gave it to me with a kiss. I smiled widely and began to sip at it until they finished and we ate together.

The days went by so quickly. Kaldur and I had gone to pick out the furniture a nice dark wood. I put it on Oliver's card and they said it would be delivered in a few days. The next day, we painted the room a soft blue. We had decided the room was going to be sea themed, their own piece of Atlantis. I was painting the window frame taking little breaks in between to watch him. He worked so diligently, making sure everything stroke was perfect. He paused for a moment and turned to look at me with a smile. I approached him and cuddled into his side as best as I could. "It looks great," I said encouragingly.

"Thank you," he said kissing the top of my head. "I want it to look great for them."

I smiled. "They'll love it regardless because you did it," I said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Always."

"Do you really want to wait and found out the genders?" I ask as I turned to look up at him. "I saw how you looked at the clothes at the store and I thought about it…I don't want to wait."

"Good," he said somewhat relieved. "The wait is figuratively murdering me."

"I have my next appointment tomorrow," I said with a smile. "We'll find out then."

The next morning, the both of us were so anxious it bothered Cassie. "Is everything alright? What's wrong?"

I laughed. "Nothing is wrong. I just have an appointment today."

"Is it an ultrasound one?" she asked curiously.

"Yes."

"You're finding out the genders today aren't you?" she said vibrating with excitement.

I smiled. "Yes, we are. We are going to tell family tonight at dinner. So head to mom's place after training." I had already called ahead and told mom she was having dinner tonight catered since she and Oliver both had sifts at the watchtower.

"Will do!" she excitedly yelled as she went out the front door to make her way to school.

While we ate breakfast a thought occurred to me. "Kal, who do you want to be the godparents?"

"Godparents?"

"If something were to happen to us…if we died…the godparents are the ones who take care of them after we pass," I said. "But they mostly just spoil them and are ready baby sitters."

"Roy, would be someone to think about," he said after a couple of moments. "He is my best friend and your brother he'd do great. Though he isn't the greatest of places right now with his new daughter."

"I thought about him and Jackson, along with Artemis, Cassie, Wally, and M'gann. But I thought about ruling out my siblings."

"Why?" he asked seriously. "And what about Richard?"

"Because Cassie, Jackson, and Connor they'll have a connection to them regardless. They'll be their aunt and uncles. But our friends who have become family they'll just be honorary. I don't want them to think that just because we consider them family the babies aren't. And I'm thinking they'll actually know how much we care about them and how much they mean to us if we make them important figures in their lives too." I paused, "And I didn't say Richard because I'm still a little pissed at him….however, he is still one of your best friends and he is still a dear friend to me too so if you want him to be a part of it, I agree. But I'd also like to include Zatanna in the running also to make it even."

The wait in the waiting room was unbearable. I could not keep still for anything and it amused Kaldur the entire time. When they finally called my name I jumped out of my seat and practically ran to the check-up room and waited on the scale. The nurse laughed and began to take everything she needed. My weight, blood pressure, and a urine sample. Then she set me up in a room and told me to strip from the bottom down so the doctor could check my cervix. Dr. Sullivan came in with a smile. "It's good to see you again, Carter," she said. "You look a lot better, more rested." She turned to look at Kaldur and held out her hand. "You must be the father, Dr. Sheila Sullivan. It's nice to meet you—"

"Calvin, Calvin Durham," he answered smoothly. "It is nice to meet you as well."

They shook hands and she turned to her assistant who had come in with the tray of tools she would need. She washed her hands and donned her gloves before she began working ….down there.

She took off her gloves and threw them away. "Everything looks perfect. No signs of early labor, cervix is still the same. Hopefully, it is a sign that they are waiting. Knock on wood," she did the action in the wooden cabinet. "Well get dressed and a nurse will come get you in five minutes and take you to an ultrasound room." I got dressed quickly with Kaldur's aid and the nurse brought us to a darken room.

"Sit on the bed dear and unbutton your pants for me, Dear," she told me as she put on gloves. I did as she asked and she tucked paper into my pants to get stop the gel from getting on my pants. As she finished Dr. Sullivan came in and sat down getting the machine ready. I pulled my shirt up to show my stomach. She put the gel on and began moving the wand around. After a couple of moments the babies appeared. They looked more like humans with every ultrasound. Not they had faces, fingers, and toes, they had all their limbs and even had hair. I turned from the screen to look at Kaldur. This was his first ultrasound. The sight made me tear up. He stared at the screen with a complete look of love. Several tears had made their way down his cheeks. I reached my hand out and grabbed his cause him to look at me. "They are beautiful."

"They sure are," I agreed and turned back to the screen.

"They are coming right along, both are about the same size and weight," Dr. Sullivan said. "Though Baby A is a tad bit bigger." The picture showed Baby A playing with his hands.

"Dr. Sullivan, we changed our minds," I said without looking away from the screen with was filled with Baby A. "We want to know the genders."

"Very well then," She said with a smile evident in her tone. "Baby A if you can see right here is a healthy baby boy."

I let out a gasp. "A son," I said in amazement. "We have a son, Kal."

"He'll be strong and intelligent just like his mother," Kaldur said confidently as he leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Dr. Sullivan took pictures to print of our son before moving to the left to look at Baby B. "Now we believe we know the gender of Baby B but I would love to show you and just to have a second opinion to be sure." She maneuvered around until finally she stopped and took pictures. "Perfect, she is being cooperative today. If you see this right her," she pointed to the screen. "This shows that Baby B is a healthy baby girl." She moved the wand around and showed us her face. She was sucking her hand while her other hand played with her hair. When she finished taking pictures she printed several of them out and handed them to me. As she cleaned up the gel and the tissue paper she looked at us and smiled. "I'll give the both of you a moment. Head to the front desk when you are ready. And we'll set up your next appointment for a next week." She closed the door behind her.

I pulled my shirt down and sat up. I turned and looked at Kaldur. "A boy and a girl."

"We have a son and daughter," he said with a huge smile. He cradled my face in this hands. "You are so beautiful."

"I am crying," I said with a smile. "How can I be beautiful with my eyes all puffy and red."

"You are always beautiful," he said before giving me a breath taking kiss.

The mood was amazing and nothing could break it. The bitchy cashier at the baby clothes store where we got several sets of onesies in shades of blue and pink. We figured we would present two to everyone that would be there tonight. My siblings Dinah, Oliver, both Roys. We were also making a trip to Atlantis to tell his parents, King Orin, his wife, and Garth as well as tell his Father. That trip would be tomorrow.

When we arrived at my mom's everyone was jumpy with excitement. We sat down and ate dinner and once everybody was basically done, Cassie got right down to it. "So the genders?"

Everyone laughed. "Cassie, calm down, it's coming. We have to wait until everyone is finished and Jackson has to call."

As is he had heard me, the laptop that was on the counter began to sound that someone was attempting to video chat. Cassie bounded up from the chair and immediately answered it. "Finally, we have been waiting on you," she said exasperated.

I rolled my eyes, "I hasn't been long, Jackson, don't let her fool you."

"I won't," he said, his voice coming from the speaker. She turned the computer to where if faced everyone. Kaldur had gotten up and got the bag. He brought it over and handed out the boxes.

"Okay on the count of three, everyone open the boxes," I said smiling. "Three."

Everyone hurriedly opened the boxes and I watched Dinah mostly. She opened her box and starred down into the box. I know what she was seeing two onesies, one blue, one pink, that had the words 'My Grandma is cooler than yours' along with a small picture frame that held a copy of their ultra sound pictures.

She looked up from her box and looked at me with tears welling in her eyes. "I am proud to call you my daughter, and I will be damn proud to call these kids my grandson and granddaughter."

I smiled widely. "Good, because you didn't have a choice."

"Yes!" I turned to Cassie to see her holding up the onesies. "Wally can suck it! I win!"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah we'll you have to split the winnings Barry won too."

"Oh no, it is still going on," she said, "the pool only got smaller, now we are focusing on when you go into labor. So if you could go into labor in three weeks, you'd make me the happiest aunt ever!"


	30. Chapter 28

I rolled my eyes and laughed at Cassie's antics. I looked at Jackson who was smiling widely. "Best of both worlds, Cart, I can't wait to meet them."

"Me neither, Jack, can't wait for you to be home."

"We'll I have to get going I had to pull strings to get this video chat," he said. "I love you guys."

Everyone called out their respective goodbyes and Cassie closed the laptop. "Now you guys need to keep your mouth shut until tomorrow night," I said sternly. "No spoilers."

The next day, we zetaed to Atlantis and was greeted by Garth. Kaldur strode forward and the both clutched each other the forearms, a male greeting. "It is good to see you, Dear friend, it has been too long."

"Long it has," Garth agreed with a smile. "Which is nice that you are paying visit now."

I approached the two. "It's nice to see you again, Garth."

The released their grips and he embraced me in a hug. "It is good to see you as well, Carter." He released me and stepped back. "How much longer do you have?"

"Hopefully, a month at least," I answered. "The longer the better but it's up to them honestly."

"Have you found out what they will be?" he asked curiously. "I remember a tv show once had device that could perform a procedure to see that while they are still inside the womb."

I smiled. "Yes, we had an ultrasound yesterday," I said as I rubbed my stomach. "It's a boy and a girl."

"Congratulations to the both of you," he said hugging me again and bro hugging Kaldur.

Garth lead us to some type of vehicle, "This is something King Orin had created for when his Justice League comrades come and need to navigate the waters. He gave his blessing to use it as transport to your mother's."

"I shall remember to thank him when we meet later," Kaldur said. "We will see you again before we leave."

"Of course," he said before he smiled and swam away.

We arrived at his childhood home easily. I had only been here once before. The house was small but fit since there were only two people living there. It was carved into a huge rock formation on the outskirts of Atlantis as were many other houses. Hers was set higher up so she has a wonderful view of the main city.

When he entered his mother ran to us and hugged her son fiercely, greeting him in Atlantian. She turned to me and smiled widely. "You look so beautiful, Carter, so happy. I hope this all thanks to my son, yes?"

"Yes it is," I said smiling at her. She was a small woman with short stature, only an inch or two taller than me. Her bone structure was similar to Kaldur's but more feminine and less defined. Her eyes were not like her sons, her were a bright brilliant blue that reflected the sea. Kaldur got his eyes from his father.

"Good, then he finally got his head on straight and out of the coral," she said with a smile. "Now tell me, when are my grandchildren getting here?"

I smiled, "Within the next month or two," I said hugging her. "Will you be able to come on land for their births?"

"We'll see," she said, "I'm quite scared to go up there on land honestly. Kaldur, Garth, and even our King himself have told me about it. I still feel more comfortable down here."

I nodded, "I understand, as soon as they are old enough I'll be bringing them down here to see you. They should know their grandmother."

She grasped my hands in hers, "I appreciate that more than you could ever know. Now what's in the box my son is holding so proudly."

"Why don't you open it and find out?" Kaldur told her with a smirk.

We sat at the table and watched as she opened it. In it was a picture of the ultrasound in a frame. I sat in the chair closer to her to explain what she was looking at. "On land we have these machines that allow doctors to look at babies inside the womb. This is your grandson's face, his nose, that's a hand right there and the other there. This is your granddaughter, her face and her little hand right there. Whenever they are here, we'll take tons of pictures so you won't miss a thing."

She smiled at the sediment. "A son and a daughter? You are giving him the best gift of life in a pair and now you give him one of each gender. You are a miracle, Child. I am so happy you have come into my son's life and in turn my life as well."

I hugged her before I could burst into tears. "I am lucky too that you have raised you son to be an amazing man and the father of my children."

Less than an hour later, we were at the structure were they held Black Manta the man who was also Kaldur's father. The guards all easily let us through as they knew Kaldur and King Orin had granted me clearance. We were lead to a room where he was, he sat at a table with one of his hands restrained. We both sat across from him.

"Father," Kaldur said sternly.

"Son," the older man said in the same tone. "I see you are back together with the girl you had relations with prior to your year of deceit. You are with child, congratulations."

"Children," I corrected him. "I'm pregnant with twins."

"A son and a daughter," Kaldur said, grabbing hold of my hand underneath the table.

His father tried to remain resigned but his eyes widened with pain. "That is…wonderful, congratulations to the both of you."

"Thank you," we both said.

"I appreciated coming to tell me," he said, "It was also nice to meet you as well."

"We aren't finished," I said, "We both have discussed it and we have a proposition for you."

"I am intrigued," he said relaxing slightly.

"My father is a selfish and horrible man," I stated. "He has tortured my siblings and myself for his own gain and I would rather kill him than have him even know they exist," I said strongly. "You on the other hand still show love and respect for your son even though he betrayed you and has several different views from you. Even though you haven't done a lot of good, you still hold your family in high regards no matter what. So here is my proposition, as long as you have good behavior here, you get to see your grandchildren."

"What you be in it for you?" he asked curiously.

"I get to see my children know the love of grandfather who wouldn't be willing to kill them for his own selfish gain." I snapped at him. "Now are you willing to be well behaved so you can have three of your own flesh and blood visit you or am I wasting my oxygen?"

He smiled and turned to his son. "You found a strong one with a determined mind I see."

"Yes I have," Kaldur agreed. "One who also cares for her children as well because this was her idea."

The older man's eyes widened slightly. He looked behind us and stared there for a moment before turning to me. "I have your word."

I gave a stern nod, "As long as you behave yourself, I will personally bring them here to see you as often as I can, which I am hoping will be monthly. They won't be able to visit down here for a while, their immune system needs to build but until then I'll send letters with pictures."

"Understandable," he said. "And thank you for your kindness."

"It isn't me being kind, it's called compassion. You have it for your son and I already feel it for my children. Just don't make this my first mistake as a parent." I stood up from the chair and looked at Kaldur. "I'll wait outside, you need to talk with your father," I said softly I squeezed his hand before letting go. I turned to the man across the table one last time. "Have a good day."

I walked…waddled out of the room and greeted the guards once more before I walked out of the structure and got into the submarine. I only had to wait ten or so minutes before he made his way into the seat next to mine.

I grabbed his hand and caused him to look at me. "You know I love you right?"

He smiled, "It is quite nice to be reminded."

"Well then let me give you quite the reminder," I said leaning forward to press my lips to his.

The late lunch with King Orin and Queen Mira went smoothly, I enjoyed talking with their young son you had just turn five a few months prior. He was so enthusiastic with how he discussed things that it was quite entertaining. The king toasted to us and our little ones while his wife gave us a blessing for a hopeful future. We left shortly after to get ready for the meeting with the Team and the League members.

They were all gathered in the main room excited, Wally walked up to us first. "Oh you're both wearing blue! Does that mean I win?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "No we just both like the color blue, Stupid."

"Well, then tell us," Wally whined.

"We will," Kaldur said with a smile. "Just calm down, not everyone is here."

"Who else are we waiting for?" Wally asked.

 _Recognized Nightwing B02_

"Sorry I'm late," Dick said honestly. "Gang fighting on the docks."

"It's part of the job," I said with a shrug. "Just happy you could make it."

He gave a short nod. "Me too."

I turned to everybody else. "So before we actually tell everyone the genders, we kind of have another announcement to make. We consider all of you our friends, a second family, however, before you guys were here we on a smaller scale," I said nervously.

"So we ask that our close friends, Wally, Artemis, Dick," Kaldur said.

"M'gann, Roy, and Zatanna to come here, we have something to ask all of you," I said with a huge smile. They all looked at each other before they came and lined up in front of us. "You all have been there from day one, including Connor, you were my family when I didn't know I actually had one. Now we thought about Jackson, Cassie, and Connor in this but they already have a connection to these guys. You in a way don't, so we decided to change that."

"We were wondering if you would do us the honor of being the babies' godparents?" Kaldur finished for me.

There was a moment of silence before I was tackled in a hug by M'gann. Followed by Zatanna and then Artemis. Wally double hugged the both of us and then we all turned to look at Roy and Dick who stood there stunned. "What? Not up for this kind of mission boys?" I asked curiously.

"Well I'm already having a hard time not fucking up with my daughter," Roy stated. "And you want to trust me with your kids too?"

"We'll yeah," I said as if it were obvious. "I mean you've been a brother to me for years, Roy, and you're Kaldur's best friend. You deserve to be in their lives." I turned to Dick. "So do you, Dick, you may have messed up…bad…but so has everybody else here one way or another. Besides who else is going to teach them how to hack computers and pick locks before they get into preschool?"

Everyone in the group laughed. "So since we already know the genders it won't surprise us, however, it will surprise you guys," Kaldur and I both handed the six bags out to someone. "So you guys get to reveal the genders to everyone. The guys have Baby A, the girls Baby B."

They immediately opened the bags to reveal blue and pink onesies. Wally cheered as he was the blue but as soon as he saw the girls holding the pink clothing he groaned. A few in the crowd cheered, Cassie and Barry to name a few, because they won the gender part of the bet. The night ended on a great note as after we stayed and mingled with the rest of the group. Which was good because I haven't been able to do that for a while.


	31. Chapter 29

_Recognize A23 Carter Callahan_

I walked out of the zeta tube and made my way through the main room. It was weird to hear the computer say my name. That one of the small things I might miss dropping the hero act, dropping my name that I spent hours thinking about and planning out the costume to go with it. I didn't dwell on it for much longer though. The twins began kicking every organ in their reach to let me know they were hungry. I made my way to the kitchen to grab a snack…snacks… before heading to the gym were the Team was having a training session. I walked into the room unnoticed as I observed the Team's training munching on a bag of chips.

 _Static Shock Fail_

"Did I teach you nothing, Virgil?" I called making my presence known. "What did I tell you about sticking to a side?"

He groaned as he got up, "I know, I know."

"Yet, you still did it," I sang as I ate another chip. "If Gar can see it anyone more trained than him could see it."

"I can't tell if I should take that as an insult or a compliment," Garfield deadpanned from his place.

"Compliment, Gar, you know that," I said teasing.

Kaldur made his way over to me by know and had his arm around my shoulders and lips at my temple. "Finished 'nesting'?"

I rolled my eyes, "I told you, I can't help it," I said exhaustedly. "It's an instinctually thing that my hormones are making me do. Do you really think I want to wash and fold all the twins' clothes six different times?"

"I know you don't," he said with a chuckle. "Or repack the hospital bag on three different occasions."

"Make it ten," I said eating another chip, "I repacked it seven times, eight if I go home. I left after unpacking it again. I was hoping I could help Augustus with something, anything really."

"I'm sure he'd appreciate the help since Barry is busy with their twins," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, I thought about going there, then I remembered how crazy Iris is right now," I said frankly, "So I figured Augustus was the safer, saner option. I'll leave you to training."

"Are you sure—"

"Yes, this is all you," I said gesturing to the group of preteens and teenagers gazing at us. "I can't be much help right now with this. I can do the lab thing or the eating all your food thing." I accentuated the last part by eating another chip.

He smiled and kissed me lightly on the temple before facing the others. "Lagoon boy, Robin, you're next."

I smiled and made my way to the lab a floor above. Augustus was there in his lab coat, wearing googles and gloves as he held a test tube with a syringe. "Carter, this is a pleasant surprise. Please get protective gear on and join me. It will be nice to have company."

I threw on a lab coat and grabbed a pair of goggles and medium sized gloves before joining him at his side. "Have you been busy without Barry?" I asked as I observed what he was doing.

"Nothing, unmanageable," Augustus said, "All has been quiet since the disbanding of the Light."

"Not for long," I said bitterly. "Villains are resilient, unfortunately."

"And we will be ready," Augustus said. "You may be out of the game so you must have forgotten but we are resilient too."

I smiled, "I didn't forget," I said amusingly. "Just wish sometimes we all were a little bored."

 _Alert! Foreign Ship approaching Earth! Alert!_

We both got up, took all of our safety gear off, and washed our hands before hurrying to the main room were the Team and some of the League members already were. Aqualad and Black Canary were already in the thick of it. The screen showed a large projection of a small aircraft moving past the moon at a fast rate. "Computer, estimate the ship's landing coordinates," Black Canary ordered.

 _Estimated coordinates,_ the female computer voice responded. The map appeared with red brackets around the estimate crash sight.

"Jump City," I said recognizing the location. Then a thought occurred to me. "Computer, what's the time and date of Jump City, California."

 _The current time and date is November 23 2016, 12:36._

"Shit," I exclaimed. "There's a festival today."

"Team, Gamma, zeta to Ivy town," Black Canary ordered. "Kid Flash, Blue Beetle, Beta, you go ahead get crowd control evacuate the city. Miss Martian, Batgirl, Alpha, take the Bio-ship. You'll work with the League on an airship to try to communicate with them or slow them down."

Everyone made their way to their assigned locations. Black Canary looked at me. I sat down in the seat in front of the computer. "Staying right here."

"Good," She said, "Monitor the teams and the aircraft let us know if anything changes."

"On it," I said placing the ear piece in my ear. "Alright, Teams, update me on our location."

"Alpha, is in route with League ship to begin communication."

"Beta, is still twenty minutes outside Jump City," Kid Flash responded.

"Gamma, thirty minutes out," Aqualad replied.

"You still have time," I replied. "Estimated landing time is an hour."

I sat at the chair and waited. "Attempts at communications are failing. We have a closer look at the ship. Alien in origin, small pod shape, seems to be a projectile. There's no steering mechanism or thrusters," Batgirl responded.

"Could it be an escape pod?" I asked curiously.

"Either way, we are to treat whoever or whatever inside as a threat until we can confirm otherwise," Black Canary ordered.

"Beta, ten minutes out," Kid Flash responded.

"I sent a distress signal to the Mayor and staff of Jump City," I replied. "Hopefully, that will help the evacuation proceed sooner."

"Great thinking."

"Well, I'm not just going to sit here," I replied. "I'm trying to get into dispatch of the JCPD but not going along that well."

"Can't you just call," Static replied.

"Yeah, and have them laugh me off the line? They will at least take it a bit more seriously if I hack and call," I said. "What idiot hacks the dispatch line as a prank and also calls?"

"And if the hacking doesn't work?" Aqualad asked warily.

"You and I both know very well how great I am at making sure my voice is heard," I replied cheekily. "Trust me I got this."

The firewall of the dispatcher system was easier to break than I thought. The sent out a message to all dispatcher computers before dialing the number. The conversation was a little comical but it did the job. "JCPD has been alerted to incoming meteor and has begun the evacuation of its citizens and visitors. I told them League officials would be there shortly to aid in the evacuation and handle the meteor when civilians are out of danger zone."

The plan went as to be expected. Blue and KF arrived with Gamma arriving shortly after. The ships still observed the pod and all communication attempts still failed. _This isn't right_ , I thought, _this is too easy._ I spoke to soon.

The computer alerted me of a change in speed of the pod. "Why is the pod accelerating?"

"They spotted us and actived the thrusters. Their course hasn't changed, yet," Miss Martian replied.

"This feels off, if it was a hostile as soon as you were spotted, they would have immediately switched to defense. It appears as if they are….running," I stated.

"Still we should be cautious."

"The pod is beginning to get pulled in to Earth's gravitational pull," I replied looking through the transparent holographic screen. "It's going through the atmosphere and accelerating fast. It's going to hit the ground hard, fast, and on fire. You guys be careful."

Now the waiting game began. I only took five minutes for the pod to crash into Jump City park. by that time the League Members were ten minutes out via ship and Miss M and Batgirl were already docked and standing behind me. Batgirl pulled up a chair and began typing away hacking. "Beta is at the crash site," Kid replied. "Tall teenage alien girl in handcuffs and she is pissed." Explosion sounds were heard from over the com.

"What is she doing?"

"Shooting lasers out of her eyes," Kid Flash said. "And it kind of looks like your shield."

"He's correct," Aqualad replied.

"Visual up," Batgirl replied as a live videos from the parks surveillance cameras appeared on screen.

The girl was tall with long red hair she wore handcuffs that covered her entire hands. She wore a head piece, silver that framed her face that came to a v shape at the top of her head. Her clothes were tattered and ripped but you could tell it was made of a nice shimmery material the shade of purple. When she yelled her voice was strong and pleading in a different language. I perked up upon hearing it.

"What is it?" Miss Martian asked noticing my change in posture.

"That language," I said. "It's familiar."

As I watched her more and more it finally clicked. "She's a Tamaraian," I said in disbelief. "Everyone stand down," I ordered.

"Carter, are you sure?" Black Canary came over the com.

"Yes, I'm sure of it. They are warriors in nature but they are honorable and very loyal," I said remembering it from a book I read. "She's only reacting because she is afraid. She's probably been kidnapped from her planet to be involved in the intergalactic slave circuit. It's always been a huge problem for their region of the galaxy."

"How do we let her know that we men her no harm?" Aqualad asked.

"Oh, this should be funny," I said with a smirk. "Someone has to kiss her."

There was a pause, "What?"

"Someone has to kiss her, preferably not Aqualad, obviously, but someone has to do it," I said amusingly. "Tamaranians have the capability of learning any language from a native speaker through a meeting of lips. The DNA exchange allows for a temporary telepathic connection of the region of the brain that involves how we learn and remember languages. They then are able to absorb the information and talk as fluently as the native speaker."

"Seriously?" Beetle asked astonished.

I rolled my eyes, "Why is this so hard to believe? Someone approach her cautiously and pucker up." I huffed.

"Why can't we wait until Martian Manhunter—"

"Tamaranians are immune to telepathic attacks," I replied. "Which is why she didn't respond to the communication attempts, she couldn't hear them."

While they all sat around and argued with me they failed to see Nightwing make his way over to the girl. He kneeled in front of her and grabbed her hand cuffed hands and placed some bat device to them. They unlocked instantly and fell to the ground. The girls eyes which were still glowing green went away to reveal her eyes. She smiled down at her hands moving them in the air. In one quick scoop she grabbed Nightwing by his uniform and kissed him. The exchange lasted for less than a second before she released him and spoke.

"Thank you for releasing the restraints," she spoke clearly in her grateful tone.

"Well, Boys, you just missed your prime opportunity," I said amusingly. "That's what you get for arguing. Meet you back on the Tower."

 _ **Soooooooooo hi you guys…..its been a while…..I'm terribly sorry about that. Ill try to at least let you know next time I go MIA hope this makes up for it. let me know how you feel.**_


	32. Chapter 30

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" I yell at the group of 'adults' in front of me. "She isn't lying. Why would she lie about the things she had seen, what has happened to her? Jesus Christ, have a heart, Batman, not everyone is a criminal."

"It is not for you to decide that," He said sternly.

"It is not your place, either," I said crossing my arms setting them on my large stomach. "You want to keep her separated from Earth, fine, I get it. She wouldn't fit in their currently anyways. You want to keep her away from the team, fine, be an overprotective mother hen. But you will not put her in isolation like she is a criminal in Arkham. She needs interact until her future is decided."

"She is dangerous—"

"SHE IS IGNORANT!" I shouted causing several hands to appear on my shoulder. "You get kidnapped from your home planet, get tortured, and told you are about to be sold to the highest bidder to become someone's slave to do whatever they want with, never to see your family again and see how you feel! Right now, we are her heroes, her saviors, and you want to treat her just like the villains she ran away from?"

"Carter, that is enough," My mother said from behind me.

"Why are you okay with this?" I asked angrily.

"Because we still don't know if her story is true," she said in an assertive tone.

"So treating her like a criminal is going to solve it until Martian Manhunter gets back is your way of fixing it?" I asked sarcastically. "Great! Just great." I began to walk out of the room

"Carter."

"No, the Dark Knight is right," I said without looking back, "It's not my place anymore. I'm out of the hero business, right?"

I walked down the hallway to the elevator and slammed my hand on the button. "I don't know why I even bother," I grumbled, "I'm almost twenty-two damn years old about to become a mother of twins and they still treat me like a child."

"You bother because you are passionate and you care," a voice appeared from my right.

"I know that, Kal. It's just..." I shook my head. "Forget it. We have more important things to worry about."

That night I didn't get much sleep. My mind was still stuck on the fact that Starfire was in isolation until Martian Manhunter came back from Mars which could be tomorrow or next week. I sigh as I turned to another side to try to get some type of comfort but with how my organs and the twins that wasn't going to happen. I sighed once more before I got up from the bed. Kaldur roused from his sleep and blinked up at me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I just can't get comfortable," I said. "Go back to sleep I'm going to go down stairs and get the guys a snack see if they calm down enough for me to get some sleep."

He nodded before laying his head back down and instantly going back to sleep. I snorted, _Lucky._

I went down stairs to the kitchen and grabbed a strawberry yogurt and a chocolate pudding. I mixed them together in a bowl and sat on the couch turning on the television. After I finished, they calmed down and I finally was comfortable enough to fall asleep. I didn't sleep that long I woke up at 7 to Manuel kicking my intestines and Alena doing some kind of motion to get close to her brother. I placed my hands on either side of my belly underneath my shirt and began rubbing in circles to soothe them. They began to respond so I pushed my hands a little bit hard hoping that in some miraculous way that it would put them to sleep. What happened, however, was not what I was expecting.

" _—I told you, that you would wake Mommy up. You never listen to me!"_ a high pitched female voice trilled in my head.

" _I can't listen to you because you aren't talking,"_ a male child voice replied. " _Besides, she was going to be getting up anyways to potty soon. And it's not my fault things are getting so cramped in here when I stretch."_

I pulled my hands away from my stomach and looked down in shock. "I'm going crazy," I said out loud before placing my hands back on my stomach.

" _Mommy! Mommy! Can you hear us, Mommy?"_ the girl responded.

" _Mommy? Is that you? Where's Daddy?"_ the male voice responded.

"Manuel, Alena?" I asked quietly. "Is that you telepathically talking?"

" _Oh, Mommy, you can hear us!"_ Alena exclaimed. " _We have been trying to talk to you forever!"_

 _"Mommy, if you can hear us does that mean Daddy can now too? And all our aunts and uncles? Oh, and Grandma and Grandpa?"_ Manuel asked getting excited and began to kick again.

"Manuel, calm down, those are mommy's organs you are kicking," I replied as I rubbed his side.

" _Sorry, I got eg-eggsalad."_

"Excited, Honey, you got excited," I said correcting him as I got up. "And we will find out in a second let's go see if we can talk to Daddy and confirm that Mommy isn't crazy."

" _Oh no, Mommy, you aren't crazy,"_ Alena said just before I let go of my hold of my belly and maneuvered myself to get up. _I sure hope I'm not_.

I reached the bedroom and opened the door seeing that I was just in time. Kaldur sat up on his side of the bed stretching as he turned to me. He say my expression and dropped his arms. "What's wrong?" he asked causing the kids to kick.

"Um, nothing is wrong, per say, it's just um," I sighed and moved to sit beside him on the bed. I lifted my shirt to show my stomach and I placed his hands at the top. I then placed mine on top of were the twins both were and looked at him. "Just listen." I firmly pressed my palms to my stomach at the same pressure as before and instantly both of our minds filled with high pitched mental chatter of our unborn children. Relief filled my body when his facial expression changed.

" _Daddy! Daddy, can you hear us?"_ Manuel replied as he placed a foot against my hand.

" _Mommy, Daddy!"_ Alena exclaimed as she pressed her hand against mine.

"Am I really—" Kaldur looked at me in astonishment. I nodded my head.

" _I love you, Mommy. I love you, Daddy,"_ Alena replied causing tears to well up in my eyes. Kaldur leaned forward and kissed every inch of my face causing me to giggle.

" _Mommy, Daddy, when can we come out?"_ Manuel asked. " _I want to get hugs and kisses too!"_

 _"Me too, Mommy, Daddy. I want to come out,"_ Alena said as she kicked in my stomach.

"You can't right now, Honey, your lungs aren't strong enough yet," I told them as I rubbed my hands in circles. "If you came out right now you would be stuck in a little box with all kinds of tubes sticking into you and neither of us could hold you for a long while. You don't want that to happen do you? Wouldn't you much rather be safe in my tummy until we can hold you and give you all the kisses and hugs you want?"

" _Yes, Mommy, I guess I'll wait,"_ Alena replied. " _Can we talk to Aunt Cassie and Uncle Connor?"_

 _"And Grandma and Grandpa?"_ Manuel asked.

I looked at Kaldur, "Cassie already left for school. Maybe we can have everyone talk to them tonight. We can have M'gann link us up and we can talk to them through me so not everyone has to be touching me and everyone can experience it?"

"It is worth a try I will send out a message for everyone to meet us," he said as he kissed me. "Later." His hands left my stomach and held my face. "Right now I just want to cherish this moment while it is just ours."

That night we meet everyone in the main room of the Watchtower. And by everyone I mean the godparents and family. The others can find out later. "What's the matter? Is everything alright?" Mom asked as she approached us when we came through the zeta tube.

"Everything is fine, Mom, great actually we have something we want to show everyone," I said with a smile. "M'gann, can you link everyone in the room."

She gave me a look before her eyes flashed green and I felt the link's presence in my mind.

" _Okay now what's all this about?_ " Roy asked through the link.

" _So don't be too shocked or surprised and hurt their feelings, okay? They have been wanting to talk to you all day,"_ I said as I put my hands on my stomach underneath my shirt. " _Alena, Manuel, you can talk now. Everyone is here and they can hear you."_

 _"Is Grandma and Grandpa there?"_ Manuel's voice rang quietly through the link. The look on everyone's faces…PRICELESS!

 _"Grandma! Grandpa! Where are you?" Alena replied._

Mom looked at me and looked at my stomach, "That's them, they can communicate."

I nodded my head. "We found it this morning," I said as I gestured down with my head. "Now go on talk to them."

" _Alena, Manuel, it's Grandma," she said but was very hesitant._

 _"Grandma!" they both cried._

 _"We missed your voice!"_ Alena replied as she began to move against my hand.

" _I can't wait for you to teach me shoe jet zoo," Manuel replied and he began kicking._

 _"It's called shujitsu, Honey," I corrected him with a laugh._

 _"I can't wait to teach you guys either," Mom replied with a large smile on her face._

 _"And I can't wait to teach you archery," Dad said through the link joining in._

 _"Grandpa!" they cried._

 _"Can you take us to go get ice cream to like you used to do with Mommy and Uncle Roy," Manuel asked._

 _"Yeah and play soccer with us even though Mommy says you aren't that good," Alena said._

 _Dad gave me a look causing me to snort. "Already starting trouble! Alena, honey you aren't supposed to out Mommy."_

 _"Even if she is honest," Roy said with a smirk on his face._

 _"Uncle Roy, can you visit with Lian more to see Mommy?" Alena asked._

 _"Yeah, Mommy, is always happy when you are around and with Lian," Manuel stated._

 _"And Uncle Connor," said Alena, "and Uncle Jackson when he calls."_

 _"Don't forget Aunts Cassie, Arty, M'gann, and Zee," Manuel says. "She loves when they are over so she can talk about how we use her bladder like a tramp-o-teen."_

 _"Trampoline, Manuel, I say you use my bladder like a trampoline."_

 _"Oh and Uncle Wally, he always makes her laugh and brings us food," Alena says._

 _"She even loves Uncle Dick even though he was an egg-o-ma-tis-tacal—" Manuel begins but I cut him off._

 _"Egotistical, and don't you dare finish that sentence," I say causing everyone to laugh._

 _"Well, they are right," Dick says with a shrug. "I was but I will be a great uncle to these too."_

 _"Uncle Dick, will you teach us how to pick locks?" Alena asked. "Cause that's what Mommy said you would do."_

 _"And teach us gymnastics," Manuel said, "I said that word right didn't I, Mommy?"_

 _"Yes, you did," I said with a smile on my face._

Everyone had their turn by the end of the night and it ended when they got hungry for some Mario's pizza. We zeta beamed to Star City and finished the night with Kaldur and I lying in bed eating pizza still talking to the twins.

I DID A THING YOU GUYS! LIKE ONE I POSTED A NEW CHAPTER, TWO I JUST MOVED INTO A NEW APARTMENT BY MYSELF, THREE THIS APARTMENT HAS NOW HAD NO WIFI FOR THE PAST MONTH, FOUR I AM JUGGLING THREE JOBS AT THIS MOMENT AND ABOUT TO START MY FOURTH YEAR OF COLLEGE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, PLEASE BARE WITH ME AND JUST KNOW THAT I THINK ABOUT Y'ALL ALL THE TIME! -TLG19


	33. Chapter 31

Several weeks later….

 _34 weeks…_

" _Mommy, why can't we come out yet?" Alena whined._

 _"Because the doctor said your lungs are still under developed," I told her. "That means if you were to come out of my tummy now you would have to go in a box and have a tube in your throat to help you breathe. They are going to give me medicine to help you both get so strong."_

 _"But if we are going to get so strong, why do you have to lay in bed all day until we come out?" Manuel asked curiously._

 _"So that I do not over stress my body and cause myself to go into labor making you two born early,"_ I said as I looked at Kaldur who glanced at me from his peripheral vision as he drove. We had just left the doctor's office and gotten scolded by them.

"If you want these two to come out healthy, avoiding the NICU, you must take it easy," my doctor replied. "Recommended bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. No driving, no work, only getting up for food or the bathroom and you get an allotted thirty minutes of activity a day. Nothing strenuous and take it easy on the stairs!"

I sighed, that meant barely or no trips to the Watchtower. I'm going to be bored out of my mind if all I can do is eat, pee, and watch TV.

"What are they talking about?" Kaldur asked with a smile as his hand found mine.

"They just had questions about why they can't come out and why I basically have to be on bed rest," I said with a sigh.

"It's for the best," he said. "No matter how much you will be bored."

"Hopefully, the girls or someone can come over so I won't always be by myself when you aren't there," I said thinking about asking each and every one I knew.

"I told you I will be home with you—"

"No, you won't. When these babies come, you will be far too busy and sleep deprived to train them. You will train them as much as you can now so they won't be so vulnerable later when Dick takes them back," I said sternly. "I want you all to myself on a clean conscious and that does not mean throwing the team off."

"But—"

"Do we have peanut butter at the house?" I asked cutting him off. "The guys really want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with chocolate milk."

The next day, I all but pushed him out the door for him to go to the zeta tube to teleport him to the Watchtower. I got to work looking at my research updates that were sent to me by my staff last night. We just started the first round of the animal trials on mice and they were going very well. Though there were some abnormalities in some of them. I took a sip of my tea observing the documents in front of me, raking my brain to think of all the possible causes that would cause them. I was so deep in thought it took me a moment to realize that my cell phone was ringing. I turned and grabbed it from the charger. I answered and placed it in between my shoulder and my ear.

"This is Carter," I answered simply.

"Carter!" Eduardo exclaimed. "You know how you said we can always call if we need help. Hey, watch it." I heard rustling of fabric and other sounds of a fight.

"Eduardo? Where are you guys?" I ask getting concerned.

"Um somewhere in Northern Rhelasia," he said as I heard Asami shouting somewhere nearby.

"What's going on? Are you guys hurt?" I ask get worried as the sounds of fighting increase.

"Take that, Ese!" he exclaimed. "We are fighting a bunch of ninjas or something. I don't even know how we got here we were on our way to Jump City."

"Shit!" I got out of the bed as quickly as I could. "Shit, shit, shit, Eduardo, teleport everyone out of there now. Go anywhere but just get out."

"I'll try—"

"Eduardo?" I ask as I put on my leggings. The connection ended and a beeping echoed into my ear. I tried to the call the number again but it went straight to voicemail. So I made another call. "Wally, are you in town? I need to get to the Watchtower now—" I felt a flutter in the wind and turn to see one of my best friends. "Knew I could count on you."

"Of course, you can," Wally said as he lifted me up bridal style. "I am the Wall-man. Now hang on."

We arrived to the zeta tube in seconds flat and after I threw up behind the dumpster we proceeded to the Watchtower.

 _Recognized: Carter Callahan_

"Carter, what are you doing here?" Mom asked dressed as Black Canary standing in front of a holographic keyboard along with Captain Adam, Flash, and Green Arrow aka Dad.

"Emergency, I need the computer," I said as I waddled towards the holographic keyboard. "Computer access phone call recordings for Carter Callahan Cell phone."

 _Access granted. Last recording made seven minutes ago from unknown caller._

"Carter, what is going on?"

"Computer, access GPS records for Queen Burner phone CC4."

 _Access granted. Last known location northern country side of Rhelasia. No nearby zeta tubes._

"Damn it!" I exclaimed trying to think of other ways of transportation.

"Carter, what is the meaning of this?" Mom asked sternly.

"And who has one of your burner phones?" Dad asked sternly

"The Runaways," I said exasperated. "They are in trouble. I gave them the burner when I was helping them a couple months back. I told them to use it to contact me and they called me tonight and we got cut off. I think it might involve the League of shadows. They said something about ninjas. Computer is there any way to turn the cell phone on remotely?"

 _Action not available for the device._

"Okay, so based on their last location they are in Rhelasia," I said trying to be calm. "They are near no zeta tubes so that means flying or Speedster."

"Justice League being in the area would raise suspicion," Captain Adam replied.

"And with League tensions with the public last thing anyone needs is Godfrey getting a hold of this," I replied.

"So that leaves the Team," Mom concluded. "Computer call the Team to main lobby."

"They will have to take the Bio-ship," I said rubbing my belly at Manuel kicking like crazy. "Bart can't run ahead on his own and Jamie is the only one who can keep up with him."

"Agreed, Blue Beetle should not go due to his emotional ties," Captain Adam replied.

"So should Static Shock. Can someone please get me a chair?" I asked and instantly, curtesy of Flash, I was in a chair. The Team, minus the Bat clan and Wonder girl, came in moments later and Kaldur was at my side in seconds. "We are fine," I replied before he could even ask. "The Runaways need the Teams help." I turned to the computer. "Computer playback last made call to Carter Callahan Cell Phone." Everyone in the room listen to the recording and I already saw several reactions.

"What are we waiting for?" Virgil shouted clearly upset.

"Yeah, we have to go help them, ese?" Jamie replied equally as emotional.

"The Team will be on their way immediately," Black Canary replied. "Coordinates of their last known location have already been sent to the senior members. You two are not on this mission."

They immediately began to protest shouting very loudly. "Enough!" Aqualad ordered, shutting them up immediately. "This is not up for debate."

"You are too emotionally attached to the situation. Missions and feelings don't work out," I replied calmly and sternly. "You are not going. End of discussion, head back to the training room."

"But—" Virgil stated to protest but I gave him a look. "Fine."

They both stormed out of the room and back the way they came I narrowed my eyes. "By the way you both better stay put on this Watchtower until you are dismissed to your home. I find that you are even within twenty feet of a zeta platform or any transportation device and I will be training you for the next two months."

"You can't train us, you are—"

"Pregnant with twins, yes, I am fully aware. I also still have my powers and am perfectly capable of using them from a chair. Also now that Kori is out of isolation and has been cleared for training in our ways, I am sure she would be ecstatic to partake," I said with a smirk. "Also take note I have trained with Black Canary during grounding sessions and I would love to try sensory deprivation on someone else for a change."

Their expressions changed drastically and they walked with more speed to the training room. I smiled in victory before things got serious once more. Aqualad established squads and they were dispatched. Kaldur stayed at my side as we both monitored the Teams progress. Mom, knowing I wouldn't be moving any time soon, moved their meeting to a more private setting somewhere in the tower.

"Go train them," I said not looking away from the screen. "They need to be kept occupied before they do something stupid and I end up keeping my promise."

He placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure you will be fine?"

"I can't get into much trouble right here and Mom, Dad, and you are all just a call away," I said looking up at him. "Now go, make sure they aren't being idiots. I will call you when they have reached the location." He kissed me on the forehead and left the room. I sat back in the chair and waited until they reached the coordinates.

"I'm going to head out, Carter, are you sure you're okay here?" Wally asked speaking for the first time since he brought me to the tower.

I nodded with a smile. "You all treat me like a child," I said amusingly. "I am fine, I am just pregnant."

"You're right," he said simply with a smile. He ran up to me and kissed me on the cheek. "I've got to get home to Artemis."

"Tell her to come visit me after class tomorrow, yeah?"

"I will," he said as he appeared next to the zeta platform. "I will also tell her that you are on bed rest."

 _Recgonized Wallace West A24_

"WALLY!" I yelled in protest but it feel on deaf ears as he vanished from sight. I let out a sigh and looked down at my stomach. Sometime during the chaos, the twins went to sleep and were still in my stomach, only twitching and fidgeting occasionally. I laid back in the seat and rubbed my belly as I watched the map that was tracking the Bio-ship's movement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~NEW MATERIAL~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I dozed off for just a moment but was quickly awake when I heard Miss Martian announce, "Alpha and beta squads have reached the coordinates."

"Copy, that from Watchtower," I replied muffling a yawn in the crook of my arm. "Aqualad, they made it," I announced over a direct com-link within two minutes he along with Virgil and Jaime were behind me.

"Beta squad, in position by a possible entrance," Super boy announced quietly over the link.

"Alpha squad, found a secondary entrance," Miss Martian announced.

"Gamma squad, circled perimeter twice," Silver Magic replied wind whistling through her com link. She was on Kid Flash's back at the moment. "All clear found only two entrances to a man-made cave."

"Alpha and Beta squads, enter now," Aqualad ordered. I heard noises of rock and metal being forced out of the way. The silence over the link was exasperating. Minutes later, after the only sounds being the rustling of movement did someone speak.

"Both squads have meet with each other the tunnel converges onto a door," Miss Martian announced.

"Several people are in there," Super boy stated I can hear their heart beats."

"Enter with caution," I replied. "Please let it be them." Super boy kicked the door down and silence filled the link for several minutes. "Are they there?" I asked after a couple of moments angry at the lack of sound.

"The Runaways are here alright," Beast boy replied over the link. "But I think we have a problem."

"What do you mean a problem?" I asked panicked. "Are they okay—"

"The Runaways are fine," Superboy replied. "Just unconscious, it is something else. You are going to have to see this."

"Get me a visual," Aqualad replied. All of the senior members were given these devices years ago similar to the technology Robin, well now Nightwing, had on his wristlet computer.

"Visual coming up," Superboy replied. A new video feed appeared on the screen, blank at first then the picture came in clear as day. In this picture, stood three large glass cylinders, stasis pods just like the one we found Superboy in. In each of them, were a familiar face. Familiar faces that we thought to be dead. Familiar faces that were holograms standing in remembrance hall as we speak."

"Kid Flash, get Silver Magic to the Watchtower immediately. Alpha, Beta, check the Runaways for any injuries and revive them. Have them tell you everything one they are coherent," Aqualad ordered. "Computer call Batman, Nightwing, Aquaman, Black Canary, and all senior members of the Justice league for immediate response."

"Kaldur, could it really be them," I ask quietly still staring, astonished, at the screen.

"We won't know until we find out until we wake them up," he said. "We will see what the League wants to do. Wake them there, or transport them to a hospital first."

I grab his hand and grasp it firmly. " _You realize we were set up_?" I ask. " _If this were the real deal, they would not be there. The game…it's changing."_ I turned to look at the boys, both of you go home for the night. "The Runaways are fine. It is late and you both have school tomorrow, go home. You will be updated."

"We can stay," Virgil said quietly.

"You could but it would be unwarranted," I said. "Now go home, that's an order."

They left without another word. As the zeta tube announced their departure, it announced the arrival of several Justice League members and Nightwing. I hid the feed for a moment, before they could see it and waited for Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Flash to appear from where they went.

"Kaldur, Carter," Dick asked. "What's the matter?"

I looked up at them. "There is something we need to show you." I turned to the screen and pressed the button to show them the feed. There was a silence, a deafening silence that held a tension that filled the large room. It broke when just three words were spoken by the Dark Knight himself, "Bring them in."

"Call every available medical personnel," Black Canary ordered. "And call Star Labs."

"Alpha and Beta squad, you heard the orders," Aqualad replied.

"Sedate them upon getting them from the stasis tubes," Batman replied. "We have no idea if there is any programming."

I looked at the screen until it blacked out. "Let the games begin," I said ruefully.


	34. Author's note! Author's note!

HEY YOU GUYS SO I DID A THING! AGAIN! I FELT LIKE THE LAST CHAPTER WAS SHORT AND ENDED WEIRD SO I WENT BACK AND WROTE A LITTLE MORE TO HOLD YOU OVER UNTIL I GET OVER THE WRITERS BLOCK I HAVE FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER. THE NEW MATERIAL IS LABELLED AT THE END SO GO READ IT AND COMMENT WHAT YOU THINK PLEASE YOUR CRITICISM IS IMPORTANT TO ME AND GIVING YOU THE STORY YOU GUYS DESERVE. POST SOMETHING SOON-TLG19 OUT


	35. Chapter 32

I sighed as I sat on my couch. I stirred my tea as Artemis sat down next to me. "When will they let us see them?"

"Do not stress so much about it," she stated taking a sip of her tea. "They were dead and now they aren't we have to adjust. They think that they died and now they are alive and they have to adjust. We are all just still in the adjustment period."

"You did not just go psychology on me?" I criticized. "I never should have encouraged you to take that class."

"But you did and I did, now drink your tea."

"Just you wait," I state doing as I was told. "When I give birth to these two, no one will have a reason anymore to walk on egg shells around me and treat me like I am porcelain," I say angrily.

"We don't—"

"You do, sometimes," I relent. "But everyone else is basically a ballerina, walking around on their tippy toes."

"They aren't that—"

"Mom, Dad, Kaldur, all of them are that bad. But at least I am not the only one, they are even worse with Cassie. No mention of Jason at all. Every time she asks, they pretend she didn't." I shake my head. "Bruce and Dick are keeping him on lockdown at the manor, I'm assuming at least. They probably have Dr. Leslie looking after him along with Alfred. They brought Tula back to Atlantis, Garth is ecstatic and amazed according to Kal. He's also scared. Kaldur thinks he doesn't want to get too attached just in case she might be a clone. According to the scientist from Star Labs, it seems unlikely when they compared old DNA samples."

"And if she is a clone?"

I let out a shrug. "No one knows how that situation will go, it's up to Garth. She's still Tula to me, just because she is Tula in a regenerated body doesn't change anything," I said with a shrug. "It is just like with Roy, we found out he was a clone and he was still my brother. We found the younger Roy and I gained a little brother. Well kind of, he is still a bit of an ass." I let out a groan and shifted getting uncomfortable. The twins were kicking and shifting like crazy. "I don't know how long I can last. They are pushing all my organs so far in my rib cage, I'm surprised I haven't coughed one up yet."

"You're lucky, you only have a couple of weeks," She muttered bitterly, before taking a sip of her drink.

"Why'd you say it like that?" I questioned.

"Because I have 32 weeks to go," she said nonchalantly.

I almost dropped my cup in shock. "No!" I said with a huge smile on my face.

She smiled. "Yep, we found out last week."

I reached out to hug her, it was rather difficult with the giant belly. "This is so exciting! They'll be able to play with each other. Oh my god! Wally's going to be a dad. That's going to be so weird."

"He is going to be great. He's been trying hard to keep quiet, though I am pretty sure he has told Barry."

I snorted, "Definitely," I replied. I looked at her. "You're going to be a great mom too, Art. Don't think any different."

"I am so worried about how I am going to mess up this kid."

"You are not going to mess up the kid," I said with an eye roll. "You might not have had the best of parents, but you are so good with Lian and I know you'll be good with mine." I bumped shoulders with her. "Besides with Wally's science brain, bad pick-up lines, your sarcasm, and both of your tempers, the kid is already going to be messed up," I joke causing her to push on my shoulder laughing with me.

Later that night:

 _Recognized Carter Callahan_

"Carter, greetings."

I turn to the voice of the cheerful voice and see Starfire standing with Dick, M'gann, and Connor. I smiled and wobble over. "Hello, Starfire, how are you adjusting?"

"Everything is new and very different from my planet," she said with a cheerful disposition. "I am becoming accustomed to the cuisine and cultures, but it is still a long street to go."

I smiled at her mistake. "The phrase is 'long road', Starfire, not street."

She smiles and blushes slightly. "Apologies."

"It's okay, you are still learning. Not to mention, Earth as a whole is very odd to the majority of the universe," I said. "Have you guys seen Kaldur?"

"He's in the training room," Connor replied. "Everything okay?"

I smile. "I am fine. You guys are worrying too much. Trust me when I am in labor, the world will know I am in labor. The kids just wanted to talk with him and I figured the team could use a break."

"You have other children?" Starfire asked in shock. "Where are they?"

"Oh no, we only have these two," I clarified putting a hand on my stomach. "I have an ability to speak telepathically through physical touch and the kids are very advanced and can communicate."

"Oh how wonderful!" she said cheerfully clasping her hands together and bringing them to the side of her face as she flew a couple inches in the air.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. It'll help to know what they want instead of playing the guessing game. But they are already asking so many questions, I feel like a search engine," I replied as I rubbed my stomach, the twins were both sleeping as they had been a lot lately. They have been tiring themselves out with moving or they get bored because they can't do much especially since they turned to have their heads facing my pelvis. "So what were you all discussing?"

"We were talking about putting Starfire on the Team," Dick replied with a smile.

"Yes, the Justice League has finally clearance me to fight the good fight," Starfire said with a smile.

I smile. "That's wonderful, you will be a great addition. The Team could certainly learn from your fighting tactics."

"We thought so, too," M'gann replied. "The Team has been too settled since the big fight."

"They could use a surprise," Connor replied with a devious smile.

"See, I knew one day I'd rub off on you two," I said with a devious smile of my own. We began to make our way to the training room, slowly of course since I can't freakin' walk properly. "Dick?" I asked quietly as we stayed in the back of the group. "How is he?"

"Adjusting," he said in a tone that made me frown.

"One word nice, surprised Batman would let you say that much," I replied sarcastically, he didn't respond. "Eggshells, eggshells everywhere." We neared the training room by now and I didn't have anymore time to grate on him for more details.

"L'gaan you must not always depend on your strength during a fight," I heard Kaldur lecture as we walked through the door.

"Yeah, Chum," he said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes. He is so cocky for someone who I could probably take out in my current state.

"L'gann, I'd listen if I were you," I stated causing the Team to look in my direction. "You only have him for a few more days before you go right back to Nightwing."

"I am not that bad," Dick replies in offense.

"You can be," I clarified. "Now you give them a taste of what they are going to have, while I take my boyfriend."

Kaldur raised an eyebrow, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I am fine," I clarified. "No labor, yet." He walks towards me and grabs my hand.

" _Are you sure?_ "

I rolled my eyes, " _Yes, I am fine. I just wanted some alone time with you before the kids wake up and ask us another 20 million questions._ "

He kissed my forehead, "Nightwing, I'm sure you have the Team from here."

"You guys go have fun," Dick said with a smile.

"You too," I said as we began walking away. "Don't have too much fun, they do have school tomorrow."

We laid in bed that night with him nestled behind me arm curled around my body at my waist with his hand ending on my belly. "Kal?" I ask quietly searching for if he was awake.

"Yes?" He asked, his breath rustled my hair by my ear.

"Do you think we will be good parents?" I ask quietly.

"You will be a wonderful mother as you already are," he replied kissing the back of my neck. "You have always been a compassionate person and taken care of everyone. It's one of the reasons why I fell in love with you. I could not have chosen a better woman to be the mother of my children."

I smile. "You only spoke of me. I asked if we will be good parents," I replied. "Though there is no doubt that you wouldn't not make a great father. You have already done so much and sacrificed so much for us." I move my head to look behind me. "I couldn't have chosen a better man to be the father of my children and the man I will spend the rest of my life with." He leans forward and kisses me sweetly on the lips. "I found out some great news today. I'm no longer the only one expecting." He raised and eyebrow in question. "Wally and Artemis are going to be parents. She told me this morning while she was over keeping me company."

"That's great news."

I nod. "Our children will all grow up together. The next generation of heroes best friends from the start, just like we were," I hum starting to get tired.

"Go to sleep. You did a lot today," he replied kissing me again on the lips.

"I walked and extra two minutes," I replied, I let out a yawn. "Sleep, however, does sound really nice."


	36. Chapter 33

I sprang up from bed breathing heavy. A bad dream, again. They usually come when Kaldur is away. He had some last minute things to take care of in Atlantis before the Twins arrived. I sat up in the bed with my hand on my chest. This was a bad one. I have it once every couple of years, always reminding me that it happened. I ended a life.

It was when I ran away from Dinah and Oliver about a year after they took me in. I ran because I was scared, I didn't want to care for someone again just to lose them, which was highly possible with their profession. I ran away to Jump City, knowing they wouldn't likely look there anytime soon, not after at least checking Star City and Gotham first. I found refuge in the warehouse district, in a worn down building that used to be some kind fish canning company. The roof was stable so it was dry, it was warm and void of anyone living there. I stayed in a small alcove on the second floor. It gave me views of all the exits and the entire first floor.

Two weeks in, I was woken up in the middle of the night by a small cloaked figure walking in through the side door. It was raining outside the wind wiped the door open wide, banging it against the metal wall. Her hood was ripped off her head showing her dark wet hair with a purple hue. I observed as she used her strength to close the door. She ran into a dark corner and curled up in a ball. I watched her for a while as she stayed in the corner jumping at every noise the building made as the wind shifted. After an hour she finally fell asleep.

In the morning when I woke up again, she was still there in the dark corner asleep. I got up from my place and went down the stairs. I went to the nearby farmers market and stole a couple of fruits and vegetables. I went back to the building and saw she was awake.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly from her corner.

"I live here," I replied I looked up at the top where I reside. "Who are you?"

She was quiet and then moved closer into the darkness of her corner. "You don't want to know who I am."

"Why not?" I replied cocking my head to the side. She didn't reply. I walked up the stairs to my place and ate my apple. We stayed there separated for the next two days until finally her stomach rumbling became too much. I walked down the stairs with my hands full of food. I approached her and stopped a few feet away before placing the food on the floor. "Eat, or your stomach will let the entire city know we are here."

I walked up the stairs back to my cot and watched as she slowly reached over and got the food. "You shouldn't starve yourself," I reply. "I can get you food."

"You shouldn't do anything for me."

"This self-pity thing you have going on will get you killed out here," I replied as she shrugged.

As the weeks grew on we got closer, she told me her name, Raven, like the bird. She had a power to manipulate the shadows. We were on our way back to the warehouse after stealing some more food, we were cornered by a group of three men. They came on to us trying to take off our clothes, I let my powers get out of control. All three men slammed into the brick walls. One of them got knocked unconscious, the other two approached us again. The man grabbed my arm I pushed my hand against his face and an energy disc formed slicing through his head. The other man ran away. Raven disappeared, I couldn't find her anywhere. Dinah and Oliver found me the next day and had the murder covered up as a self-defense, the other two men were arrested for attempted human trafficking. The sight of the mane with his head in two will always haunt me. It was the first and only time I have ever killed someone.

I got up from the bed and went down stairs. I made a cup of tea and sat on the bar stool hoping it would calm me enough to go back to sleep. A swift kick to the ribs, however, stopped that process quickly. I pressed my hand to my stomach.

" _What is it, Honey_?" I asked telepathically.

" _Mommy! We get to see you soon!"_ Alena said kicking up a storm.

" _Yes, you will,"_ I said with a smile. " _Just a few more weeks."_

" _No, Mommy, we are coming soon."_

I looked at my stomach. " _Alena, what do you mean by that?"_

Before she could say a word, the pain hit me like a freight train. My stomach tightened and pain erupted from everywhere. It caused me to drop my cup, shattering it all over the floor. I gripped my stomach and the countertop with my now empty hand. It lasted for what seemed like forever when it finally subsided. "Connor! Cassie!" I yelled. Connor was a light sleeper I knew he would at least here me. Within a minute Connor was at the door way. His hair messy shirt on inside out over his sweat pants.

"What's the matter?" he asked urgently.

"I think I'm in— Son of a bitch," I cursed as the pain hit me again. "Yeah, nope, in labor, definitely in labor."

He was frozen in place. I look at him exasperated. He shrugged seeing my annoyance. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Get me my phone! I need to call the doctor, Kaldur, hell everyone," I said with a huge sigh.

"Wake up Cassie too, please," I said with a sigh.

He left the room and I heard him go upstairs, knock on Cassie's door, go into my room. They both came back down. "It's time," Cassie said with a yawn.

Before I could answer her, the pain erupted again causing me to groan in pain as I gripped my stomach. "Yeah, it's time," I said holding out my hand for my phone. Connor placed it in my hand and I called the doctor. She would be prepared and ready with a specialized staff in a secure hospital. I called Kaldur next.

"Carter, what's wrong?"

Before I could answer, another contraction hit causing me to drop the phone. Cassie picked it up and answered for me. "Yeah, she's in labor head to the hospital. We'll be there in a few." She hung up the phone and called Wally.

"Wally, wake up," she ordered. "Carter is in labor and she needs to get to the hospital pronto!"

Within minutes, Wally was in the kitchen along with a still groggy Artemis. I went to get off the stool and, of course, my water broke. "Oh come on—" I got cut off again with another contraction. "Cassie grab the hospital bag and a new pair of pants please, I'll change in the bathroom."

She ran up the stairs and was back in a minute. She dropped the bag on the counter and grabbed my hand to help me move to the bathroom. "Don't worry about the mess, I'll clean it up. You get changed, I'm ready to be an aunt already," she said closing the door without a word.

I washed myself as best as I could and put on the new pants. I went back to the kitchen to find it already cleaned, she probably used magic. I was picked up by Wally, who commented on how slow I was moving, and brought me to the garage where they were getting in the car. "Don't worry, we will call everyone and bring your bag, you get to the hospital before you give birth."

We, of course, reached the hospital in less than five minutes I was checked in and changed into an uncomfortable night gown and I was brought to a private suite in the Labor and Delivery department. I was leaning on my side gripping the hospital bed rails as I went through another contraction. "Just think," I said breathlessly. "You and Artemis will be here in a couple of months going through this."

He grinned, "She told you."

I snorted, "Of course, she told me. She tells me everything. I told Kaldur too, I hope you don't mind. It was just too exciting."

He nodded. "Yeah it's fine. We were planning on telling everyone soon. I told—"

"Barry, yeah, we know," I said with a smile. "Surprised you haven't told Dick yet."

"I haven't gotten a chance too," he said with a grin. "He's always with Starfire."

I grin, "Of course, he is." I looked at Wally. "Walls, I'm scared."

"Why?"

"I, what if I'm not a good mom? What if I mess up these kids? What if I do something stupid and end up dying? Kaldur says I'm going to be mom, but I think he's just biased cause he accepts me even for how emotionally fucked up I am and—"

"Carter, stop talking," Wally ordered. "Why you over think things, I have no idea, but you are being an idiot right now. You are going to be an awesome mom to those kids so stop worrying about how bad of a mother you're not going to be and start preparing for being the great mom you will be."

I smile as my vision blurs from forming tears in my eyes. "Thanks, Walls."

The door to my room opens, I turn to look over my shoulder. I smile at Kaldur as he walks in the room. "Hey."

"Hey," he leans forward and kisses my forehead. "Of course, they decide to come the one night I am away from your side."

I laugh. "What can I say? they are our kids," I say as I close my eyes as I feel another contraction starting. I turn over and grip the railing hard as the beeping on the monitors increase.

"Oh, that was a good one," Dr. Sullivan commented as she walked into the room with a nurse by her side.

"Yeah, depending on which end you are on," I snark. "Because from my end this pain says anything but good."

"It will be worth it when you are holding your babies," she said with a smile. "When you first came in you were two centimeters dilated, we are going to check again since you're contractions are progressing so if you don't mind—"

"Got it, Wally, get out for like two minutes," I said. "There is no way you are seeing my lady bits."

He got out of the chair and began making his way to the door. "You don't need to tell me twice. I'm going to find Artemis."

They checked my progression and I only moved up a centimeter. "You are still on course," she said in response to my grimace. "The anesthesiologist is going to be in shortly."

"Thank god," I said with relief.

Once she left, literally everyone came in the room. Zee, Dick, Wally, Artemis, Connor, M'gann, Cassie, Mom, and Dad all walked in. Mom was immediately at my free side. She sat on the bed and moved my hair from my face. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly, I feel like Garfield as a Tyrannosaurus is currently sitting on my pelvis and lower abdomen. I also simultaneously want to eat, sleep, vomit, and drink my body volume in water," I said with a sigh as I shifted. "But other than that I'm just anxious, I haven't been able to talk with Manuel all night since he is out of my reach and Alena is exhausted from all the contractions. I just want them to be here."

"By tomorrow, you'll be holding them in your arms," she said still playing with my hair.

I nod, "I know, where's Roy?"

"He couldn't find a baby sitter and Jade is out of town," she said with a little distaste.

"I understand, he can come in the morning and bring Lian, I haven't seen her for weeks," I say with a yawn. "What about Roy? Has anyone talked to him?"

"He says he is fine and to stop worrying," Dinah said with a roll of her eyes.

"And of course when he says vague crap like that I'm going to worry," I said with a sigh. "What about Jackson? Was anyone able to get a hold of him?"

"I got a hold of his unit's satellite phone, he was out on a patrol in one of the nearby towns," Cassie said. "They will let him know as soon as he gets back."

I nod. "Okay, that's everyone accounted for right?" I asked. "Dick, you told Bruce, Tim, and Barbara?"

"They were with me when Cassie called, they'll come visit tomorrow."

I nod, "Let Bruce know if he brings anything worth more than $20, I'm going to kill him," I said I grimaced as a small contraction hit.

"I'll try but you know how he is," Dick said with a shrug.

"Well, if he is going to bring anything, he should bring Alfred's triple decker German chocolate cake," I said moving the bed to let me sit up. "That's something I could get behind."

"Same," Wally commented.

"Who said you were going to get any of it?" I ask with a smile.

"What you aren't going to share?"

"Um, hell no," I said simply. "That's Alfred's triple decker German chocolate cake. That cake could persuade me to commit murder."

"Not even a slice?" Wally asked in anguish.

"A crumb the size of quarter," I compromise. "What about Garth and Tula?" I ask turning to Kaldur. "And your mom do they know?"

"Garth and my mother both know," he said grasping my hand. "Tula was still asleep, Garth swore to tell her in the morning."

I nod, "Good that's good. What about Uncle Clark and Barry? And—"

"A message has been sent out informing everyone," Mom said with a smile. "Now stop worrying and—" The machine to her right began beeping erratically.

I curled into a ball and gripped the rail as it hit. "Fucking hell this hurts."

"It's okay," Dad said as he came up to me and grabbed my hand. "We are here."

That one lasted longer than the ones before. I relaxed and made the bed recline. "I'm just going to stay down here," I said quietly.

"Where the hell is the anesthesiologist?" Mom snapped.

"Mom, this is going to hurt regardless. Besides it's not the worst pain I've felt. Remember when that building exploded in the Glades and I got impaled by the plank of plywood. Now that really hurt."

"Yes and you didn't go or do anything for two months," Mom replied.

"Even when you were healed after one month," Dad replied giving a pointed look to Mom.

"It was when we were trying to find Roy," I replied. "This still really hurts though. Top three on the most painful experiences of my life."

"What's the other one?" Dick asked curiously.

"Let talk not about that one," I said quietly as I turned to grab Kaldur's hand. He knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Mom, can you get me some ice?" I asked quietly. "And please don't try to punch a nurse."

Everyone in the room let out a laugh. Dad smiled, "How about I go?" he left the room without a word.

"I feel bad," I replied, "I'm probably going to be in labor until tomorrow and you guys are all here."

"Oh please," Zee replied speaking for the first time. "Do you really think I am going to miss any of this? These are my god children we are talking about."

I smile and before I could respond another contraction hit.

"This is going to be a long night," Dick replied.


	37. Chapter 34

The anesthesiologist finally came and that was a miracle if I ever had one. Because of my metabolism they pumped me with enough to knock out a horse which had me at a prefect peaceful state. The contractions now only felt like an uncomfortable pressure.

"How are you feeling now, Carter?"

I smiled. "I am feeling much better," I said with slight slurring causing the others in the room to laugh.

"That's good I'll come check on you in a little bit to see how far dilated you are. Telling by how close your contractions are," She says looking at the piece of paper coming out of the machine recording my contractions, "We should see these babies at the latest by noon tomorrow."

"Thank you, Dr. Sullivan," Kaldur replied from his spot at my side. He was sitting on the edge of my bed holding my hand and running his fingers through my hair.

She gave him a pleasant smile and a nod. "No thanks necessary, it's what I'm here for."

By the morning people were sleeping, off to the cafeteria or somewhere else to get food, or went to go take care of things at work and were coming right back. I was able to get a couple hours of sleep and was now currently bouncing on a yoga ball right now I was at 8 centimeters dilated and I had gotten a second round of drugs. I felt great!

"Are you sure you're not hungry?" Mom asked before going down to the cafeteria to meet up with Dad.

"I'm starving but I will throw it up," I said bouncing. "I will eat after the twins get here. I should be fine since they are pumping me with vitamins."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

She left the room leaving just Kaldur, myself, and a sleeping Artemis. She has been out for a while. Kaldur was sitting in the chair next to my bed, he hasn't left my side all night.

"Kaldur, get some sleep."

"I am fine," he said with a smile. "You are the one that needs sleep."

"I can't sleep right now," I said still bouncing. "I'm too excited. We are about to finally meet them!"

He smiled and laughed at my enthusiasm. I stopped bouncing and clutched my stomach at the tightness that one was really strong, even with the medication. I looked at the monitor and it is the largest peak I have seen. Thirty seconds later another one hit followed by another. I looked up at him in and smiled. Seconds later the doctor walked in. She smiled at me and gestured to the bed. "Let's get you up in the stir-ups and check. Something tells me it might be time."

She checked and ordered for a delivery suite to be set up with two incubators ready and warmed up. I smiled and grabbed my cell phone. "Mom, get back up here I'm having these babies." Artemis woke up with the noise. She looked cranky until she realized what was going on.

Two nurses came in and prepared me for transport down the hall. Mom and Dad both came running in with huge smiles on their faces. Dr. Sullivan walked in, this time dressed in scrubs. "Mom, I assume you are coming along with the father to be?" she asked.

I nod, "Yes, she's my second person in the room."

Dr. Sullivan smiled. "Well, let's get this show on the road, we have some babies to bring into this world."

We got into the labor suite a big room that was prepared for anything. Natural birth, emergency c-section, anything that knowing my luck could happen. I was placed in the stir-ups and my bed was set to a reclining position. Dr. Sullivan sat on a stool in between my legs. "Okay, Carter, we've eased up on your medicine a little bit so you will feel some pain but we need you to have better control of your muscles to push. Only push when I tell you to, okay? No matter how much your body wants to push you do not, got it?"

I nod, "Got it." The machine showed a contraction coming and this time I felt it. I closed my eyes in pain and gripped the hands that appeared in mine.

"Don't push, Carter, we have to wait for the next one," Dr. Sullivan said. I nodded and did my hardest not to push. "Good job," she said as the contraction ended. "Remember for this one I want you to push with all you've got." I nod, as I feel another contraction coming on. The monitor beeped louder as the pain increased. "Push!"

I pushed and that really hurt. The pressure and pain in my pelvis was like thousands of needles stabbing and they were on fire. "Okay stop pushing, Carter, the contraction is over," Dr. Sullivan encouraged.

I relaxed back into the bed. "Kaldur, you are so luck that this pregnancy is twins and one of each gender, because I am not doing this ever aga—" Another contraction hit.

"Push, Carter, just one more and Manuel will be crowning," Dr. Sullivan said.

"Keep at it, you are doing so well, Carter," Mom said in encouragement.

The contraction ended just as another on hit, "Does this ever end?" I asked angrily as I pushed again. The pressure grew and grew getting more painful.

"He's crowning, Carter, keep pushing."

I kept pushing until suddenly I didn't have to anymore and all I heard was a loud wail. "And it's a boy," Dr. Sullivan cheered causing me to open my eyes to see a little shriveled up baby covered in white and red screaming like a banshee, and I began to cry like a ...well him. Kaldur cut the cord with his free hand and the nurses took him away to get cleaned up and evaluated. I looked up at Kaldur and saw tears forming in his eyes too. I went to smile and have an enduring moment but Alena apparently wanted to make her appearance too. I delivered the placenta and immediately the contractions picked up again. "Come on, Carter, you are just half way through," Dr. Sullivan said. "I know you are exhausted but we need you to push okay?"

I nodded because I was honestly to out of breath to say or do anything else. Pushing constantly has exhausting. Kaldur pushed my hair from my face and kissed my forehead. "He looks just like you." Before I could reply I slammed my head into the bed as the pain hit again.

"Come on, Carter, just a couple more pushes, she's about to crown," Dr. Sullivan encouraged. I nodded as I pushed and pushed until eventually a loud cry filled the room once again at just a slightly high octave than the first. "And there's our girl!" I opened my eyes again to see them take a pink blanket covered baby away to clean up and get evaluated just like her brother. I looked up at Kaldur with a huge exhausted smile on my face. "I did it."

He grabbed my face and kissed me hard. "Yes, you did, and they are beautiful."

"Carter," I turned to look at my mom. "I'm going to go take pictures and go show everyone."

I nod, "That's okay, Mom, I'm fine here," I said squeezing her hand in mine. "Thanks."

She leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "Always."

The good doctor and her team of nurses got me all cleaned up and in order and finally gave me my babies. Now I could say they were cute and adorable and were the most beautiful things in the world, but they honestly looked like miniature old people. They don't look like me or Kaldur yet but I can see Manuel has my hair, my original dark brown, and Alena has her dad's blonde curly hair. They both have a light tan complexion. I smiled as I held Manuel and Kaldur held Alena by my side. I brushed a finger against his cheek causing his eyes to slightly open which was hard due to the jelly they placed over them to moisturize. "Hi, Manuel, it's Mommy."

" _Mommy,"_ he said in his mind with a sigh.

I smiled and moved him to be closer to my face so I could kiss him on the forehead. " _Mommy, I'm tired."_

"Go to sleep, Honey, you just had a very big day," I said ending with a yawn. "We'll be here when you wake up along with the rest of the family."

"You need to get some rest, as well," Kaldur said quietly kissing my temple. "You have had a long night as well. Our family can wait just a little while longer."

I nod as I yawn once more. I lean back into the bed and make sure I have a secure hold on our son and fell asleep. I had woken up a couple of times like when they moved me back to my room and when the nurses drew blood from all three of us and did some of the minor tests. They all came back fine. I was holding a sleeping Alena when I heard a quiet knock on the door. I looked up just as it opened to see my mom.

"Is it okay for us to come in?" she asked in a hushed tone. I nodded my head. She opened the door widely and the family all but ran in. The girls crowded the bed, Cassie immediately got into the bed with me carefully.

"Oh look at her," Cassie said in amazement. "Was I this cute when I was a baby?"

"No," I answer immediately with a smile. "You wouldn't stop screaming that brought you down a couple notches."

She gave me a look of disbelief and rolled her eyes. "Well are you going to hold her forever or is it my turn to cuddle my beautiful niece?"

I shifted my hold causing Alena to stir. "Get a good grip and support her head and neck."

"I know how to hold a baby, Sis," she said. "The Allen twins needed cuddling too."

"Hush and do as I say," I teased. She held on and tightly as she leaned back and got comfortable.

"Did you choose a middle name yet?" Artemis asked curiously. She know I have been going back and forth about the middle name.

"Alena Taylor," I said with a smile. "It is the closest we could get to an English derivative of Mom's actual name."

"Alena Taylor Durham," Zee said with admiration. "It has a nice ring to it."

"So does Manuel Lance Durham," I said with a smile looking over to Mom. "Dinah nor Laurel weren't all that manly."

I've never seen my Mom so close to crying.


	38. Chapter 35

_In other news, Star City's golden couple Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance, who have been together for ten years and engaged two years ago, have something to celebrate besides their upcoming wedding. Lance's adoptive daughter, Carter Callahan and her boyfriend, Kalvin Durham welcomed their twins yesterday. I hope you all join me in congratulating the happy family._

I rolled my eyes as I ran the towel through my hair. I grabbed the remote with one hand and turned the channel, flicking it away from the peppy news anchor. I turned to Kaldur who had fallen asleep in the arm chair next to my bed holding Alena. She already has him wrapped around her finger. I looked over to my right to see Manuel sleeping soundly in his crib. He had fallen asleep in my arms and I had put him there just before going to take a shower. It was way overdue but I had to wait till everyone left. I put on pajamas, happy that I was no longer required to wear that stupid itchy hospital gown. I sat in the hospital bed and watched tv until the next feeding. The twins did really well with breast feeding and I was producing great according to the hospitals lactation consultant.

I turned my head to the sound of a knock at the door. I looked to see Roy with Lian in his arms with a pacifier in her mouth. She smiled widely behind it when she saw me. I got up quietly from the bed. "Hey, Pretty Girl," I said quietly reaching my arms out for her. She reached out for me in response and I grabbed her from her father's arms.

"Hey, I'm great too, Carter," he said sarcastically. "Thanks for asking."

"Hey, Bro, I just popped two five pound babies from my vagina," I said with a smile, "I'm fabulous." He grimaced and based beside me through the door to the room. "Be quiet they are all sleeping."

He nodded in response and walked up to the hospital crib that held Manuel. "They are good, ugh, healthy, right?" he muttered.

I nodded. "Perfectly healthy for twins born at 37 weeks. Their lungs are fully developed so they didn't even need to spend time in the NICU."

"That's good," he said uncertainly.

"Yes, it is," I said with a smile as I made faces at Lian.

"Sorry, it took so long to get here," he said quietly as he stood awkwardly. I sat down on the bed and scooted up and crossed my legs so he could sit at the end. He sat down still staring at Manuel.

"It's okay, Mom told me," I said. "I understand, what is she out of town for now?"

"Some sort of art heist in Europe," he said with a shrug. "She's playing the good guy this time, an art museum stole a private collection from a dying millionaire and the son is paying her to steal them back."

"That's good she could be killing someone or actually stealing," I said with a shrug. "You know you can hold him, you are one of his godfathers after all."

"It's just," he stammered, "how do I hold him?"  
I smile, "Put one hand under his neck supporting his head and cervical spine and another underneath by his lower back and bottom and just lift. When you pick him up pull him to your chest and move him to where his neck meets the croak of your arm and just hold him at the bottom that same way," I explain with a smile. He didn't have the opportunity to do this with Lian she was a couple months shy of being a year old when Jade came back with her. He was hesitant as he did the motions very slowly. He looked at my expectantly and I nodded in approval. He sat on the bed slowly and smiled down at his godson.

"This is…"

"Yeah," I said in agreement. "There is no words for the feeling."

"I missed doing this," he said quietly. "I'll try to be better."

"Roy, it was different circumstances," I said quietly. "If you do end up having another kid, I'm sure you will be the most dedicated father just like you are with Lian."

He said nothing but a small smile formed on his face. I looked over my shoulder to check on Kaldur and Alena and noticed he was awake. I smiled and got out of the bed slowly and took Alena from him giving him a light kiss. "Had a nice nap?"

He smiled and nodded his head. "Indeed, I did. I could get used to falling asleep with one of our children in my arms."

I smile and kiss him once more. Before moving to sit on the bed with Alena next to Lian. "Roy, meet your niece, Alena," I said quietly. She must have stirred awake when I picked her up because her eyes opened slightly at the sound of her name.

" _Mommy, Uncle Roy_!" she said ecstatically through our link.

"That's right, Baby girl," I said quietly. "And your cousin, Lian," I said watching her as Lian grabbed at Alena's blanket. I scooted closer and angled Alena so they could see each other. "You want to kiss your baby cousin, Lian," I asked with a smile. She smiled widely showing the few teeth she had and leaned forward to give her a sloppy wet kiss.

Roy smirked. "Guess I'm going to have to come over more often."

Lian leaned against me and held her hand out for Alena to grab with hers. I smirk back, "Ya think?"

"Carter, you are one of the luckiest women I have ever meet," Dr. Sullivan stated that next afternoon for my checkup. "Every woman who has ever given birth would kill to have your healing abilities. I give it a day or two before you are deemed completely healed. Six weeks of healing in just 72 hours, miraculous."

"So tell me, when can my babies and I go home?" I asked amused.

"How does tomorrow morning sound?" she asks with a smile. "The babies are cleared, they have passed all the tests with ease, including the car seat test, you are clearly healed, and I have no reason otherwise to keep any of you here."

I smile, "That's great!"

She smiled. "I'll go get everything set up," she said, "Call me or any of the nurses if you need anything."

"Will do," I said as I went to grab and now awake and whining Manuel. She closed the door and I sat on the bed and revealed my breast to feed him. "Just think tomorrow, we will be home with them." I was silent for a moment and the realization hit me. "Oh my god, we'll be home with them."

He saw my panic and he was at my side immediately. "We will do fine," he said grabbing my face in his hands. "I will be there, Cassie will be there, and Connor will be there. Everything will be fine. Our friends will help us if there is a need, as will your parents."

I left out a sigh and giggled nervously. "Sorry it just kind of set in," I said quietly. "We now have two tiny babies who are dependent on us, for everything. Reality just hit and it's surreal."

He gave me a kiss and sat on the edge of the bed next to me. He looked down at our son, "He looks like you."

I scoffed, "He looks like a little old man," I said amusingly. "We won't be able to tell who either of them look like until they are a couple months older."

"He has your hair," he pointed out.

"He has my original hair color that matches Jackson's," I clarified. "Alena clearly has your hair color."

"Or Cassie's," he said in a similar tone.

I shake my head, "Nope, she has yours. I would know that shade anywhere."

"How?"

"I've played with it and pulled on it more than enough times to remember the exact shade," I said coyly. He scoffed and caused me to laugh.

The next morning, Mom and Connor came to help us get everything home. Multiple people, some of who I barely knew through Dad's fundraisers, sent teddy bears, balloons, and other baby orientated gifts in quantities that I knew could not fit in my car. Mom rented a car, since she usually travel from Star city via zeta tube, to bring everything back to my house. Connor has taken to becoming an uncle in the most adorable of ways. He was awkward at first holding Alena and then she grabbed his finger and wrapped yet another one of her male relatives around her finger. He came strolling into the room and immediately went to their cribs to find them asleep, he frowned slightly.

"They are going to be up in a little while, stop pouting," I said amusingly.

"I wasn't pouting," he said with a frown, "How are you feeling?"

"Almost completely healed," I said standing up from the bed to give him a hug. He nodded and hugged me back. "So how are things with the team going?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"Good, they are adjusting back to having Dick as their leader again," he said with a shrug. "No one has passed out yet."

"That's good, hey mom can you grab that shirt for me," I asked. "Be careful it has baby puke on it."

She grabbed and put it in the bag of dirty clothes. "There, you are all packed."

"Then I am just in time," Dr. Sullivan said as she opened the door to my room. She held up several papers in her hand. "Three sets of discharge papers, right on time."

"That's great," I said with a huge smile. "There are a lot of people waiting to meet these little ones back at home." I gesture to the twins in their car seats on the floor by the bed surrounded by several bags.

"I can see why," she says with a smile. "They are some of the cutest kids I have helped bring into this world."

When we got back to the house, it felt the same but different. It was the same house, the same people, and we just brought in to little new born babies. People were there to greet us including Bruce, Tim, and Barbara. She immediately took Alena out of her car seat and went to sit down of the couch. Both Cassies came and took Manuel leaving me empty handed. "Well, at least we know we literally have a team of baby sitters at the ready."

Bruce, Mom, and Dad all laughed. Bruce stepped forward and gave me a short lived hug. Even in his public persona he wasn't that touchy feely unless you were a supermodel….or Selena Kyle. "It's good to see that day finally arrived."

"Yes, it is," I say with a smile. "They are happy to be out in the open able to interact with everyone. I just hope with all the contact they don't get sick. We still don't know how their immune systems work."

"Yes, while my immunity is more paced than a normal human's, I am still susceptible to similar illnesses," Kaldur explained.

"I just hope they have a happy medium, it will be hard to explain to their teachers how they get over brused, broken, injured anything in days or hours when it should take weeks or months," I state with a sigh. "I hope they can be as normal as possible until they decide if they would like to be heroes in the very distant future."

"You think they will want to be heroes?" Dad asked with a tone of pride and worry.

"The possibility is high," I state as I wave my arms around. "Literally everyone we interact with is a hero, was a hero, training to be a hero, heroes. The only ones who will be normal is us, Wally, Artemis, Kaldur's mother, Aunt Thea, who can't count because even she was a hero, and all three pairs of great-grandparents, who are also iffy because Pops is the Chief of Police, Grandpa is an ex-general, and Mimi is an ex-CIA agent and previous government spy. Honestly, I don't know why I even said _if_ it is more like a _when_."

"And if or when that times comes we will make sure they are prepared and trained properly before they even stop a robber," Wally said as he walked up eating a bowl of popcorn. "They were just born two days ago. Why are you even worrying?"

"And just where the hell have you been since the day I meet you?" I said sarcastically. "Apparently under a rock because you clearly have not learned that I worry about basically everything."

"That will chip away with the twins, Aunt Iris learned to stop worrying about a lot of things really quick."

"Now that makes me concerned about if I need to go and make sure she isn't secretly seeping into PTSD."

"Carter!"

 _ **So hey you guys! it has been pretty busy and things finally calmed down and guess what? I wrote like four chapters...so you're welcome because now you don't have to wait as long for the next update! comment let me know how you feel i know a lot of action isn't happening right now but just you wait $h*t is about to get real up in here.**_

 _ **see you soon TLG19**_


	39. Chapter 36

The twins woke up screaming for the fourth night in a row at four am. I sat up and reached over to their bassinet placing my hand where I touch them both. " _What's the matter, Babies, are you hungry?"_

" _A little,"_ Manuel replied. " _My tummy hurts."_

 _"I got woken up,"_ Alena said angrily.

" _Just go back to sleep, Alena,"_ I said as I picked up her brother and turned on the rocking motion of the bassinet that set it to a steady slow motion. " _Come here, little man, you just wanted to be held, didn't you?"_ I asked as he snuggled into my chest and let out a sigh. He immediately started going back to sleep again. I moved to sit back against the head board and just watched him. Even though it has only been less than a week since they were born they have already changed quite a bit. Their faces are filling in with their eyes no longer being puffy and their heads are no longer in a cone like shape. Their skin is no longer wrinkled but now smooth. Their skin is no longer angry red but a light tan color, a beautiful combination of our skin tones.

I was still admiring Manuel when I felt a kiss on my temple. I sighed and let out a small smile. "I tried to get them quiet so they didn't wake you," I said in a stage whisper.

"It is fine," he said quietly back. He sat propped up next to me. I leaned forward so he could put an arm around my shoulder. He readily did and we got comfortable snuggling and looking at our son. He reached forward with his other and ran the back of his finger along the side of his face. We stayed like that for a while before, Alena woke up an hour later, hungry.

"No, no, why are they trying to rush the process? We just started mouse trials three months ago and with only a 58% survival rate, we are nowhere near ape trials," I yell into the phone.

"I know, trust me we all think it is weird that's why I called," Maria said. She was a third year Biochemistry graduate student who was currently running my lab while I was on maternity leave. I chose her and the rest of my staff personally, and I trusted her.

"You do not do anything, I will call them. Their pushiness will not ruin our hard work. You tell the rest of the staff as well, any orders that do not come from me are null. If they have a problem with it they can call me," I said angrily.

"Will do."

"Idiots! Stupid idiots!" I grumble. "Think they can mess with my work."

I sit at the kitchen counter reading over all of the data I received this morning from the lab. In some areas the tests were beyond amazing at 93% survival rates. In other groups of subjects they were as low as 23%. Which wasn't saying much, we were testing healthy, injured, and terminal ill mice. Of course, the terminal ill groups would be low, but I hoped they would be higher. Normal mice had improved immune capacities compared to mice with the placebo. Injured mice were at 75%, they had lesions, skin mites, simple injuries that were perfectly survivable. Some had died from inability to clot, others lost their appetite from the drug.

"What's the matter?" Connor said from the door way behind me. "You were yelling."

"The department over our lab is trying to rush us into the next phase, when there still needs to be more adjusting and work done in this phase before progressing," I stated. "I'm probably going to have to go in sometime this week, to settle it."

"Just let me and M'gann know, we'll take care of the twins for a few hours," he said.

"Speaking of twins, are they still asleep?" I ask turning around only to see my question answered because he was holding both in each arm with their heads in the crook of his arm and his hands on their bottoms. Both awake and looking around. I get up from my spot and move to pick up Alena. "You both did not sleep long at all."

" _We wanted you, Mommy!"_

I smile and kiss her forehead. "You were just hungry, weren't you?"

" _Yes!"_

I let out a laugh and reach for Manuel. "Well I'm taking a break from work to go feed these two. Do you mind picking up Cassie from school and bringing her to training?"

"Already planned on it."

"Thanks, so how are you and M'gann doing?" He shrugged trying to be cool, but of course his signature blush gave it away. "Well, that answers that. Be careful, and communicate since you both didn't know how to do that last time. Oh and try not to be sickening in front of L'gann. He is still pissy about it, no matter how much he will deny it."

He leaned forward and gave me a hug, something incredibly rare for him…like really rare. "Thanks, Carter."

"Um, for what?" I asked curiously.

He pulled back and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "You have been there for me. You took me in and you didn't let me get angry when I could have."

"Well, yeah that's what family is for. I'm here to tell you when are all being stupid and then I hand you a baby so you don't get mad. It's a win-win situation," I said jokingly.

"So the committee will no longer be breathing down our necks and we have more sick mice getting shipped to cure," I said walking into my lab.

"And that is why I like working here," Trevor said. He is currently an undergraduate student.

"You just think it is funny, because I pull the committees' heads out of their asses."

"Which is why I love working here."

I roll my eyes. "Well while I am here I'll get the latest data and take them home with me. The twins are going to start getting hungry soon."

Maria hands me a box of files. "Here are the last three days. I figured since you were coming, no point to waste twenty bucks for delivery."

"Smart thinking," I stated as I place the box by my purse and walk over the cages. "Where is Simon and Abigail? They need to clean these cages soon."

"Abigail has the flu and Simon is late, again," Maria said, annoyed.

"Again?"

"He has been running late for his last couple of shift," Trevor said, "His excuse is that he stays behind to talk to his professor but his class let out two hours ago."

I noted it in the back of my mind as suspicious. "He's a first year grad student, he's got something to prove. I'll email him. It's okay if he misses work for the right reasons and makes up the hours later. It is not okay for him to skip because he doesn't feel like it."

For the next couple of weeks I was constantly looking at the research, when the twins were asleep or otherwise occupied, to see if maybe I could find a link to the problem with the inconsistencies in the data. The results are better when the serum is freshly made. After 48 hours, a decline occurs. How can I keep it from degrading so soon? A thought occurs, and I get access to the Justice League mainframe. _I am going to get in so much trouble for this._ I argued in my mind _. But it will be okay if it works, it has to work. This the only compound that causes permanent effects until it introduces those enzymes._ It took me a while to find the right file with not being on the JL mainframe and having access to the computer. I finally found the PDF of the molecules and studied them for hours. _Hopefully this works._

"It worked! Oh my god it worked!" I exclaimed as I viewed the latest data sent to me. I immediately called Maria.

"Thanks, you just won me $20," she said amused. "I see you just received the latest data reports."

"Yes, yes, we have been waiting for this."

"Adding that pair of enzymes worked," she said excited. "A couple more weeks of this and we can start primate trials."

"Yes, which will make the committee very happy," I said joyously. "I want bi-hourly updates."

"Will do. Alfonzo says hello by the way and is sad he missed you." Alfonzo, yet another grad student, works in another lab along with mine.

"I'll see him when I come tomorrow, I'm sure."

When noon came around, I had just put the twins down for a nap and was on my way down the stairs when a faraway explosion startled me and caused me to fall.

"Carter!" Kaldur appeared helping me up.

"I'm fine! What was that?"

"I don't know."

My cell phone rang, I ran to pick it up. "Carter, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine what's wrong?"

"There was an explosion on the campus. Fire, police and local Leaguers are on their way."

"An explosion? Where?"

"We don't know, Barry and Oliver are calling Wally and Artemis right now," she said in a rush. "You stay home."

I called Maria's phone and it went straight to voicemail. Trevor, no answer. Alfonzo, no answer. Abigial, no answer. Simon, his phone was disconnected. I grab my jacket and my keys.

"Your mom said to stay."

"I know, but that explosion might be my fault. I have to go, I need to okay?" I begged for him to understand. He nodded and gave me a kiss.

"Be careful."

I nodded, "I will, there are bottles ready for them in the fridge. When they wake up they should be hungry. Hopefully, I'll be back by then."

I ran out the door before he could respond and speed away in my car. I was stopped on the outskirts of campus by police. "Mandatory Evacuation, no one on campus except authorized personnel."

I looked at him, looked around, and saw he was the only one at this entrance. "Sorry." I slammed my foot on the pedal and broke through the barrier. I parked in the parking lot and ran to the science building….what was left of the science building. The solid brick building that had once stood ten stories high was now in shambles. I looked around and saw this was the only building affected. Somehow, I just knew this was my fault.

I stood there in shock for multiple minutes until I was lifted up into Uncle Clark's arms and flown away to the safe zone. "You need to go home," he said in a calm but authoritative voice. I nodded my head and made my way to the car. I don't remember the ride back to my house. I walked up the stairs and opened the door to find my house filled with angry relieved family.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Why did you leave when I told you not to?"

"Wally and Artemis are fine, is that why you went? To go look for them?"

Questions were coming at me from all different angles at different levels in volume. I dropped the keys and cell phone on the table and walked up the stairs. I went to my room, through to the bathroom. I got into the shower and turned on the water and sunk to the ground. Kaldur came in and sat next to me moments later.

"The explosion," I said after a few minutes. "It's my fault." He shook his head. Before he could respond I turned my head. "Kaldur, I caused the explosion."


	40. Chapter 37

That night instead of celebrating, I found myself in a conference room. Black Canary, Green Arrow, Batman, Superman, Captain Adam, Flash, Atom, and Icon all sat around the table across from me. By my side sat Kaldur, Nightwing, and Wally.

"For those of you who have not been made aware," Black Canary stated, "An explosion occurred on Stanford University campus in California at 1:32 pm local time. One affected building with minimal casualties."

"How many?"

"Four," I answer quietly. "Maria Jones, Alfonzo Castello, Abigail Henderson, Trevor Sanders. They were handcuffed to the tables and knocked unconscious before the explosion."

"Why is she here?" Captain Adam said in an annoyed tone.

Black Canary went to say something but I cut her off. "Because it's my fault," I said loudly as I slammed my hand on the table. I moved back to reveal the flash drive I pushed it to slide to the middle of the table. "Computer, open picture files labeled C4A and C4B."

"Files located," the electronic voice responded. The holograms appeared.

"The one on the left is C4A, I created it as an agent that will increase an immune system response similarly to mine. It's similar to immunoglobulins, they recognize and bind to the foreign microbes and mark them for termination but at a much more accelerated rate. Instead of having to keep recombining and mutating to find the most effective clone, it skips the middle man and mutates antigen specifically independently. It was working but the effects appeared in a wave. While it works at a much faster rate than a normal immunoglobulin, it degrades just as fast. It was effective in certain cases but for terminal cases it wasn't," I shifted my gaze down. "The problem was the agent was not present long enough to be replicated in normal b cells. I had to find a way to keep it around longer so the immune system could benefit from this short cut. The right is C4B, it's the latest version I created. It is made with different proteins that slow degradation, it is added with enzymes to help catalyze B cell memorization and degrade once homeostasis of the body is achieved. I used the proteins from the Blockbuster Cadmus compound as a basis since the effects are permanent until the antidote is received. One my lab techs is suspect now must have been an agent for the Light or some organization who wanted it bad enough."

"You created the ability for villains to recover from injuries at the rate of your healing ability?" Captain Adam said with a tone that made my blood boil.

"No, I created a biological agent to speed up the immune systems reaction time to foreign materials based on how my immune system works. Do you know how many children in third world countries die from common illnesses like bacterial infections or parasites because they don't have access or financial stability to even go to a medical facility?" I snap back at him. "And what if someone on the team gets injected with a biological warfare material like Scarecrows concoction? Or if someone gets an organ transplant or has a immunocompromising disease? Someone who just received a new liver or kidney shouldn't have to die because of the common cold. This could be the connection to finding a cure for so many diseases like HIV or Leukemia. I intended for a polymorphic molecule to cure the common cold, not a disgusting excuse for a human being to come into my lab and torture my staff that I specifically choose, have them destroy ten million dollar's worth of research, and leave a four year old boy orphaned, a woman to lose her high school sweet heart fiancé while six months pregnant, and a mother with Alzheimer's and multiple scleroses childless?" Silence filled the room. "Those deaths, their blood are on my hands. I caused all of this that's why I am here." The room was silent. I got up from the table, trying hard to restrain my hands from wiping the tears streaming down my face. "Everything you would need is on the flash drive including a way of tracking it. Barry will be able to figure it out. Just look at the main file labeled Project Immunity."

I headed out of the room and immediately ran to the zeta tube and appeared in Star City. Wiping the tears off my face the second I appeared. I began to make the walk to Mom and Dad's house where Cassie and Artemis were watching the twins at the moment and I just needed to see that they were okay. Wally appeared next to me seconds later. "That's why you didn't want me in your lab," he stated.

"I can't tell if that was a statement or a question," I state coolly. "And I didn't want you in my lab because I didn't want you to tell me how dangerous it could potentially be."

"It is a fact."

"It is."

We walked for a while, "Kaldur said he would meet you at your mom's house, he had to have a discussion first."

"Probably with Captain Adam," I state. "It won't help, he's an ass and has never liked me. I'm fine with it, he's not much of a person whose opinion I care about." I pause, "Were you near it?"

"Near what?"

"The science building," I said quietly. "Were you near it?"

"No, I was walking home with Artemis."

I let out a lung full of breath I didn't realize I was holding. We stayed quiet until we got to the house. Cassie met us at the door holding a finger to her lips signifying that they were asleep, most likely in the living room. I nodded and walked into the living room while Wally followed her to the kitchen, where I'm assuming Artemis is. They were both fine, sleeping together in their portable crib. They were now a few days shy of being two months old and they have already changed so drastically since their birth. They were a healthy weight and were already beginning the foundation of sitting up. Their eyes were now always open constantly looking around and admiring the colors. I moved to go to the kitchen.

As I walked in the room they went silent. "You do remember that I have increased hearing and heard everything you were talking about before you _mysteriously_ stopped talking, right?"

Artemis snorted. "Well fine, we were just making sure you don't go crazy," she said bluntly.

I roll my eyes. "Am I fine? No. Do I want to get revenge for them and their families? Yes. Do I want to go crazy hero and find the bastards that stole my research? Eh. Regardless, I'm a mother now, I have to stop being impulsive and focus on them. They need me more than I need my justice. Mom will make sure it gets righted, she's still the hero."

"Good, now that we have that established, do you think Oliver has some of his chili in the freezer?" Artemis said getting up to head to the fridge.

"If it isn't there it is in the freezer in the garage," I state grabbing an apple from the bowl in the middle of the counter.

"Artemis, seriously you want Dad's chili? What is wrong with you? Are you pregnant or something?" Cassie said in a joking tone. Wally and Artemis froze while I just took a bite of my apple as calmly as can be with a smile on my face as I chewed. Cassie dropped her smile off her face as it morphed into one of shock. "No way!" A smile formed on her face. "You're pregnant!"

They both melted as they relaxed again. "Yeah," Artemis said trying to be nonchalant. "Almost four months."

Cassie got up from her chair and ran to hug Artemis. "This is so great. Everyone is having babies that I can snuggle and love on."

"And hand right back when they have a poopy diaper," I muttered under my breath.

She ignored me and didn't skip a beat. "I get to buy them adorable little outfits, I hope it's a g—"

"Boy," Wally and Artemis both said in unison.

"Boys are easy," Artemis said. "Girls are a pain, I know Carter was."

"Oh please, you were too," I scoffed. "Always thought that you were right, you constantly sassed back, defied authority, always felt you had to prove yourself because of Roy. Until you graduated high school, you were an asshole."

"Really, because you didn't defy authority, sass back, abused the boys when you thought they were being idiots, and didn't always explain why you were right?" she challenged back.

"We were talking about you," I said as I took a bite of the apple. "I will fully admit that I am an asshole in certain instances. You won't embrace it."

"At least you are aware," she responded as she walked towards the garage.

"Did I also mention how you still like to have the last word?" I yelled to her.

"I'm done arguing!"

"Whatever you say!"

"Are you still talking?"

"Nope!"

Wally looked at me with a smile. "Can you please stop antagonizing her?"

I raised an eye brow at him. "Hell no, things would be incredibly to boring."

"I found the chili!" Artemis yelled in triumph.

Kaldur along with my parents came back a couple hours later. Artemis had fallen asleep on the couch with her third bowl of chili half eaten in her lap. Wally ran to go get food for himself, since he didn't want to destroy my parents' pantry. Cassie fell asleep on the couch as well with her hand still on the portable rocking crib where Alena was asleep. I held Manuel feeding him bottle I just pumped. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders and kissed me on my cheek. "You won't have to worry about Captain Adam," he said simply. I turned my head and raised an eye brow in question. He just kissed me on the lips and moved to check on Alena.

"Barry is working on tracking it," Mom said quietly as she moved to sit down next to me. I immediately relinquished Manuel to her along with his half-finished bottle. She got adjusted and began to feed him before speaking again. "He thought your idea of using alpha radiating isotopes was brilliant."

"I planned on something like this occurring," I said with a frown. "I planned ahead."

Oliver meanwhile said nothing as he moved the bowl from Artemis's lap to the coffee table and placed the blanket over her. "Why did she defrost my chili?" he asked when he moved towards us. "She doesn't like my chili."

I shrugged my shoulders. "We wanted some chili."

Kaldur caught my eye and smirked like that cat ate the canary.

Halloween came and went the twins were dressed up as mini versions of Aqualad and Blue Raven, curtesy of Zee and Cassie. Thanksgiving came as well, with multiple dinners. Mom, Dad, Kaldur, Cassie, Connor, the twins, and myself went to the Queens where Aunt Thea and Grandma practically drooled over the twins. They were in their arms constantly throughout the stay. Meanwhile Grandfather, yet again told us stories about Dad and Aunt Thea when they were younger. They made sure all of us where stuffed, before we left.

Next was Pops and Mimzi….yes, I do call her that…..no, I do not care that I am 22 and still call her that. They had a small get together since it was only us and Mimzi's children from her first marriage. They made of the twins leaving us to have small talk with her kids. They are nice but we were never close since they always said we had no part in the family due to us being adopted. They grew out of that of course, but still they held the 'I am better than thou' attitude. I rolled my eyes with every arrogant comment they said, especially when this one came from one of their wives. "You and Kalvin are going to get married soon right? It'd be a shame for them to get talked down on because they were conceived out of wed lock and everything."

I snorted at her. "Carmyn, (of course, privilege always gives people the right to misspell normal straight forward names) Kal and I getting married is honestly no one's business but our own. Our having a piece of paper saying that we will be together for the rest of our lives doesn't mean that people will treat our children any different either. It is 2016, no one cares."

"The media cares," she shot back.

"And the media is irrelevant to my life," I said calmly. "Now it was nice to see you haven't changed, but we have other dinners to attend."

We left after that, thankfully, and went to Mimi and Gramps house….I didn't come up the names okay. We ate dessert there and I drank a glass of wine with Mimi along with Cassie and Mom, it was a family tradition.

The last dinner of the night was the Justice League and Team dinner. Which I was looking really looking forward to. We arrived via zeta tube with the Twins who handled it very well, it may also be because they were asleep but I am taking it as a plus regardless. The Team members who haven't seen them crowded around instantly. I grateful handed them off. "Don't wake them, don't drop them, and don't leave them unsupervised."

I walked over to the group where Mom stood along with Dad, Diana, Clark, Lois Lane, Barry, and Iris stood. "Iris, Lois, it is good to see you again," I greeted them.

Lois reached out and hugged me. "You get beautiful every time I see you," she swears. "I wish you could come visit more but I know everyone is busy, myself included."

I nod, "Yeah, no one told me being a mother basically meant a full time job with no pay and overtime," I said as a joke. "The twins keep me on my toes now, I can't imagine when they start to walk."

"Or crawl," Iris said, "Dawn is already on the move with Don not far behind."

"Have they started to show any speedster signs?" I ask curiously.

"We can't really tell," Barry says. "They don't show anything a normal baby can't do. We are in unknown territory since they will be the first speedsters to be born and not made."

"Yeah, we at least know that it is genetic now if Bart is any indication," I state.

"Cassie! Come on!" I yell from the bottom of the stairs. "Jackson's flight lands in twenty minutes!"

"I'm coming!" she said as she appeared at the top of the stairs running down as she puts on her jacket.

"Finally, I already have the twins in the car with Connor. Let's go!" I said practically dragging her to the car.

The day was finally here, December first! Jackson was coming home after being gone for almost ten months. Needless to say I was excited. Kaldur had something to do in Atlantis and has been gone since Monday (going off the 2016 calendar, the first is a Thursday). He would be back tonight for family dinner. I speed to the airport making it there in record time of ten minutes and cut off a BMW trying to get into the parking space I wanted (needed) in the short term parking lot. We got the twins out in their stroller and made our way to the area outside the security check points by baggage claims and waited. The board showed his flight landed early and that made me anxious, in an exciting way of course. Ten minutes later the announcement came overhead announcing his flight was now letting their passengers off.

"Finally," Cassie said in a whine. "They landed thirty minutes ago according to that stupid board."

"They probably had to wait in line," Connor said calmly but his leg bouncing up and down told me he too was nervous. "They had five other flights arrive close to his and they only have three hangers."

"Yeah but still do all of those flights have marines coming home?" she argued, "They need to prioritize."

"Cassie, be reasonable. Everyone needs to get off their flights too," I said as calmly as I could. People were coming out of the security check point currently and I was analyzing every face.

"I know, I just," she went quiet.

"We miss him," Connor said laying a hand on her shoulder where she smiled in response.

"There he is!" I exclaimed. Their heads zipped around to my line of sight and once Cassie saw him, she ran.

They collided just outside the check point and he spun her around like a rag doll. He landed her on her feet and she hugged his torso tightly. "Hey, Sis," he replied amused. I could tell by his face he was just as excited as her. He had changed a bit. He was tan, especially next to all of us who were pale. He now matched the skin tone of the twins. His hair, what little had grown out, was now lighter due to the sun, naturally bleaching it. Cassie finally released her hold and they began to walk over. Once they were close I reached out and grabbed him fiercely in a similar manner. He wrapped his arms around me and let out a sigh. "It's good to be home."

I nodded, "Mom and Dad wish they could have been here, but—"

He nodded, "I know there were televisions showing the news."

Just as they were about to use a zeta tube over, a group of twenty criminals simultaneously ran rapid through Star City. They have been breaking windows and causing car accidents for the past hour.

I released him out of my grip and grabbed him by his shoulders. I looked around and let out a breath I had been holding. "You look—"

"Tired? Tan?" he answered, amused.

I shook my head. "You look like you, which is comforting."

He gave me a smile. "Of course, I look like me sis."

I rolled my eyes. "That is not what I meant, Jack," I said with an eye roll. "Now hug your brother and meet your niece and nephew."

After the emotional bro hug and the meeting of the twins, we arrived back at my house. We sat and hang out until Roy arrived with Lian followed by Mom and Dad shortly after.

"Jackson!" Mom yelled as she opened the door.

He smiled widely. "In here!"

She ran through the living room and into the kitchen where we were as I made dinner. She tackled him in a hug, "You are not leaving ever again, do you understand me?" she said as she squeezed him tightly.

"I promise, Mom."

She released him only for him to be bro hugged by Oliver. "It's good to have you home, Jack."

And for one moment in a really long time I let out a sigh of serenity. My family, all of my family, was for once not in danger.


	41. Chapter 38

"Barry, I am telling you that is the only way to track it is by the same way I have been telling the entire Justice League for the past month," I said calmly on the phone with an annoyed tone. "If you can't find any radiation that means they have created something to block it or it hasn't been used yet. It is possible Simon could have found out and they planned ahead."

"Okay," he said in defeat. "Just let me know if you think of anything."

"I will," I said as I hung up the phone. I made my way into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee. It was barely ten in the morning and it had already been an exhausting day. At eight, I had a meeting about my dismissal from work. I expected it but it still stung of course when they mentioned the emergent clause in my contract. Which discusses if myself or my research is a danger to the university, to the staff and students, I must shut down my research or be dismissed from the university. I left the office sad and arrived back to a quiet house. The twins were asleep and Connor was quietly watching tv. "Thanks, Connor."

"So they actually did it."

I let out a sigh. "Yep," with a pop on the 'p'. "I mean do you blame them? They no longer have a science building."

He shrugged in response. "It's not like you can't find a job somewhere else."

I shrugged as well. "Honestly, I don't want another job," I said, "At least not as one as strenuous and time-consuming as that one. We still don't know if the twins have powers or not and if they do the will have to be homeschooled until they can control them. I don't want to miss all their firsts either. When they start crawling, first steps, first words, I want to experience them and be there not just hear it from one of you on the phone."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't really know, I invested my money since I was 16 little by little. It is quite a chunk of change, we could live off that for a while," I said in a small sip of my coffee.

"How much is a chunk?"

"I'm not discussing that with you," I said with a sigh, "You have nothing to worry about."

"You sound like Mom and Dad," he said with a slight whine.

I shrugged. I turned my ear up to the ceiling hearing the slight rustle of sheets. One of the twins was beginning to wake up. "I'll be back."

"I'm heading out actually," he said as he grabbed his jacket.

"Lunch date with M'gann?" I ask with a smirk.

He didn't say a word but his face said it all. I smiled and walked up the stairs to the twin's room. I heard him close the front door as I picked up Alena. They were both getting so big for being just shy of four months old. I hummed a lullaby to her.

" _Why are you singing to me, Mommy? I am not tried anymore_ ," she said telepathically.

"I like singing to you," I answer simply as I go to sit in the rocking chair. She sits up straight in my lap as I gently rock back and forth at a slow steady pace. I sat there for a while before getting up with her and walking around the house to do some minor chores. Carrying the laundry basket to the laundry room and starting a load. I went back to the twin's room to check on Manuel, he was up and waiting patiently in his crib playing with a stuffed animal. I grabbed him and lifted him up, while craning my head to kiss his forehead, I paused. Goosebumps formed on my arms and my hair at the nap of my neck stood on end as I faintly heard a noise from downstairs. The small slight click of a door lock, clicking into place.

" _Mommy, what's wrong?_ " Manuel asked.

" _You both must be very quiet,_ " I said telepathically. I moved quickly and quietly as I moved to my bedroom across the hall. I focused on the door. "Tuhs ylteiuq dna kcol," I whispered and the door did as it was told. I moved to the bathroom and placed them in a laundry basket and I shut the door and locked it. I reached between the towels and grabbed the burner phone there. I turned it on and dialed the number.

"Carter?" Kaldur asked with concern. "What is wrong?"

"Someone is in the house," I whisper, I hear the noise of the stair fifth from the top that always makes a creek no matter how you step on it.

"We are on the way stay on the phone," he says as he begins to bark orders. He was helping train the team today with Dick. L'gann was apparently being very defiant and Dick requested his assistance.

I moved the twins into the closet. "You must stay quiet!" I beg quietly of the twins as I heard the door of the bedroom open. Since they were close I could distinguish the footsteps. Three people, males by the weight, one was heading to the twins room and the other was heading towards down the hall. The twins understood and I closed the door on them. I turned towards the door just as the third reached the bathroom door. He began to discover the door was locked. I moved to the door. "Carter Callahan," a deep voice stated. "We know you are in there. Come quietly and this will go smoothly."

"And if I don't?" I answer sternly as I see the doorknob moving.

"I don't think you want to find out," the voice said as the other two men entered the room. "Open the door."

"How about you leave for your own sake before it is too late?" I warn.

They tried to open the door with force and it wasn't working due to the reinforced locking mechanism. I go to the phone. "Kaldur, how soon?"

"Five minutes," he answers urgently.

I hear a shot go off and wince at the noise as it hits the thick wooden door. I try to calm the twins but Alena begins to cry. I look to see the wood close to the lock is slightly bowed out.

"Oh you have your babies in there too?" another voice says. "Even better."

"Kal, I might not have that. They are trying to shoot the door," I whispered.

"Stay in there."

Several more rounds went off one almost making it through the door. "I can't they could injure the twins."

"Too bad your sister isn't in there with you," the second voice says. "She sure looks like she'd be a good lay."

"My sister can kick your fucking ass into another dimension," I respond angrily. "And you talking about raping my sister isn't going to make me open the door."

"She should be getting out of school at this time right?" a third voice asks. "There is a second team waiting to apprehend her if you don't come now."

"I'm not falling for that," I respond. "Did you heard that?" I ask Kaldur quietly.

"Nightwing and Batgirl are heading there now."

"Who are you?" I ask louder. "What do you want with me?"

"And they say you are supposed to be a genius," the second responds.

"For your research," the first voice responds.

"Isn't that what you blew up the science building for?" I asked as I tried to focus on what they were doing. Shuffling and clicking sounds. Something was pressed against the door. My eyes widened and I closed the closet door to protect the twins. "Kaldur, I have to fight them they are about to make the door open with an explosive device." I put the phone down before he can respond and turn my back just as it goes off. Splinters fly and pelt my back but do not stab into my skin. I turn around and see a man enter the bathroom dressed in normal civilian clothing with a ski mask on….. _how cliché._ He gets a good first hit right in my eye before he grabs me. I knock his hands away and deck him in the face. He recovers quickly and shoves me into the counter top.

"You will pay for that," he seethes. He's the source of the third voice.

I don't respond as I reach for the ceramic soap dispenser behind me and hit him in the left temple. He jumps back and gives me just enough room to grab the counter top, kick off from the ground and impact my feet into his chest sending him flying into the bathtub where his head slams into the wall before his head falls to the side. I didn't have time to recover as another body slams into my side and knocks me into the closet causing the twins to scream on the other side. He has my hands in his wrists and his body pressed against mine. I fling my head back and slam into his nose causing a resounding crack to be heard. The pain resulted in a loss of grip on my wrists I swing my elbow into his ribs repeatedly until he backs away. I turn around and attempt multiple punches but he keeps dodging backing out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. I follow figuring the farther away from the twins the better. The other man is there waiting and I kick him hard, causing him to fly into the bed before hitting the wall. The man from the bathroom comes at me again and I kick him in the ribs before swinging back and kicking him again, knocking him into the dresser. The other man has recovered and is coming for me once more. I throw a punch and land the hit on this jaw. I grab a nearby vase and smash it into his head before pushing him away. I turn to the bathroom man and notice the gun trained on me. "Give me a reason by I shouldn't shoot?" the man with the second voice asked.

"If you are trying to make me beg from my life, you must be a comedian," I say icily

Without warning he lets off a shot and it hits me in my shoulder. I let out a scream of pain and grab my shoulder. He grabs me by a combination of my shirt and slams me, injured shoulder first into the wall. I crumble to the ground trying not the cry at the pain of my now dislocated shoulder and fractured clavicle. He is stronger than a normal human. I see him go into the bathroom I shoot up from my place and without thinking and sent an energy disc towards the other man before following him into the bathroom. He is just about the reach the closet when he hears me coming. He is quick and grabs me by the neck and sends me head first crashing into the mirror shattering it. He comes for me but I recover quicker than he expects and I kick my foot up, hitting underneath his jaw. I punch him before he has a chance to recover and grab him by the shirt with my uninjured arm and send him flying to the bedroom. I reach for the closet door and walk into it before slamming it and locking it behind me I grab the twins in the hamper and place them behind me before placing a shield in front of us. It takes me a second to realize everything is silent. I can't hear any noise, and that causes me to panic. The closet door opens and without a thought a send out my shield causing Wonder girl to get slammed into the something in the bathroom. Kaldur appears lips moving. I try to tell him I can't hear but my throat is too swollen to speak. I reach out my hand and grab him by the cheek.

The mental link explodes into my head telling my M'gann is nearby. "I can't hear," I answer simply and immediately I feel my mind enveloped.

" _Restrain the men! Someone reach into the cabinets and find the first aid kit! Call the Justice League and have the infirmary prepared!"_ A combination of voices shot off order.

Kaldur lifts me up and out of the closet and before I can process it I am vomiting on the floor. He picks me up bridal style just as black dots begin to form in my eyes. I try to blink them away but my body suddenly begins to sag and feel heavy I try to speak telepathically but suddenly everything is quiet again. I look up at Kaldur and see he is trying to talk. He turned and looks over me I feel my body get shifted to another pair of arms and I see Barry look down at me. As he takes off my eye lids get heavy and they fall.

I feel myself waking up. My eyelids are droopy and body feels fuzzy. I try to grimace at the feeling of the painkillers but my face feels too swollen. I try to open my eyes and find only one can open. I reach up to feel my face and feel the tense bulging skin as well as a couple of stiches. I try to move my left arm and wince and look down to see it in a sling with gauze covering it. I groan and try to move to asses if I had any other injuries and I couldn't sit up. I feel a hand on my right shoulder and turn to see Kaldur shaking his head.

" _Why can't I sit up? Why can I still not hear? Where are the twins? Are they okay?"_ I ask quickly.

" _You must rest,"_ he says calmly. " _Manuel and Alena are fine they sustained no injuries. The doctor said your hearing loss is temporary and should come back within a week."_

He looked worn, tried, the dark circles under his eyes worried me. " _You haven't slept."_

He frowns. " _You are hurt."_

" _I will be fine,"_ I stated quietly. " _You shouldn't be losing sleep over me. I have faced these injuries before. Well the hearing loss is new."_

 _"You have never sustained these injuries in our home. Our home should be the one place you and the children are safe," he said fiercely._

 _"We didn't think they would come after me," I said. "It would have happened when I was alone anyways. They have been watching us, all of us, for who knows how long. We will just move for now I am no longer attached. My brothers and sister can move into the apartment Mom and Dad have."_

 _"I still should have been there to protect my family," he said angrily._

 _"You cannot always be around, Kal, and I am not a defenseless damsel. I can and will always hold my own," I state strongly. "This is not your fault."_

He leaned down and kissed me on my forehead. " _I love you."_

I smiled and looked at him. " _As I love you, we will get through this."_


	42. Chapter 39

It took two days for me to recover from all my injuries. My hearing finally came back much to everyone's relief, including mine. Apparently my entire family is feeling some sort of guilt over the whole ordeal especially Connor and M'gann. "Oh for fuck's sake, everyone needs to stop feeling so guilty over something that _is not your fault,"_ I yelled when they kept saying they were sorry. We were having a 'Queen' family meeting essentially, except for both Roys and Kaldur who was watching the twins in our room in the Watchtower. "Cassie, you were at school, stop feeling guilty. Jackson, you were at a meeting with your Captain, stop feeling guilty. Connor, you had a date. Mom, dad, you had work. You all, we all, have _lives_. I don't need protection, I don't need a babysitter twenty four seven. What I need is to punch something and for you all to stop having unnecessary regret over something not in your control."

Mom, being her stubborn self-responded in kind. "We should have expected that they would come for you and put you in a safe house."

"Why? They literally have everything that I could give them, and I must not be that important since they sent some bull shit low level meta-humans to come get me. Whose asses I fucking kicked and one got killed. If anyone should be feeling any kind of remorse in this room it should be me, because I _killed_ someone. And I don't feel the least bit sorry because that prick attempted to kidnap me, threatened to rape Cassie, and do who knows what to my children," I stated sternly.

"So what are you just going to go back to your house?" Dad asked in disbelief.

"Of course not! I can't live there anymore, they know where we live none of us can go back there," I said obviously.

"What do you mean?" Jackson asked.

"We have to move," I argued, "Whoever sent those rejects knows where to send them and if he wants me bad enough he'll keep sending them. They already tried to use the twins and Cassie, they aren't going to use any more of my family."

"We'll be fine," he argued back.

"Says the guy who can get taken out with a pebble of a radioactive substance," I retort. "This isn't up for discussion, we all are in the calm before the Light's next game plan, and I want it to stay that way. We aren't going on a rescue mission because you are too stubborn and don't want to submit to someone's threat."

Before Connor or anyone else could reply, Mom shut down the argument down. "That's enough. She is right, no one is going back there. We will get movers to take out everything and close up the house."

"No, we are selling it," I said, defiantly. "Or at least we will show the illusion of it being sold. Closing it up shows attachment, that it will be used again. Post for sale signs, put it at an insanely high number that no one will want it, after a month marker it as sold and have friends move in. After a year or so, it is ours to use again."

"And where will we live at until then," Cassie asked. "I have school, Jackson has his unit."

"You can't go back to school," Dad said with Mom nodding at his side.

"Cassie, they followed you," Mom said calmly. "You can't go back there for you own safety. Not until we figure out who the culprit is."

"But it's my junior year," Cassie said heartbroken.

"Okay you have three options then," Jackson said. "Home school, change schools—"

"Or bodyguards," Connor and I said together.

"No, no bodyguards," Cassie begged. "Why can't I just have an escort to and from school?"

"The security of that school is not capable of protecting you from missionaries or meta-humans," Mom said.

"But I can protect myself," Cassie whined.

"We know that, but the school does not know that," Dad replied. "You can't go back to school and protect yourself on your own with revealing your identity."

"Cassie, please, you complain about the girls at school all the time. The boys always flirt with you because you are basically a Queen and can't take a hint that you have a boyfriend," I said rationally. "Think about it, are you going to actually miss the school or the sense of normalcy it represents for you?"

She stayed quiet and crossed her arms over her chest, while pouting in protest. I sighed in response. "Look I am sorry, I had to cause all this but I can't go back in time to fix this. So we all just have to deal with the consequences of my actions and try to live with them. I already have another place for us to stay. It's a three story six bed room house in Central City, I closed on it this morning." I threw a printed copy of the realtors listing. "Kaldur and I fell in love with it. It has a pool and a large back yard and we bought it under the fake names so it won't trace back to me."

All four of them stared at me in shock. "What? We have a place to stay, which is close to a zeta tube and it can fit everyone and then some. It won't feel as cramped as it was at the townhouse and this way no one has to crash at mom and dad's house since they are finally getting married." This caused all of us to laugh as Mom scowled with a slight smirk and Dad rolled his eyes with an amused smile on his face.

I walked into the gym where the Team was training with Kaldur and Dick. I approached the pack n' play pen that was nestled in the corner close to Kaldur. I met his gaze and smiled at him, left him to his work while I went to see the twins. They were sitting up now and able to grab things. I leaned over the side causing arms to reach for me. I placed my hands out and fingers on either hand were grabbed.

" _Hi Mommy,"_ Manueal said, " _I'm playing with a truck."_

 _"And I'm playing with the doll that Aunt Zee got me,"_ Alena said as she looked down at the doll and slapped the head lightly.

I smiled. " _She will be so happy when I tell her you love her presents."_

They continued to ramble while the played with their toys still gripping my fingers.

"Ha!" a loud voice said startling all three of us. I rolled my eyes as I recognized the tone. "Gotcha again, Chum!"

"It was one hit!" Beast boy exclaimed.

"It is still a win!" L'gann replied defiantly.

"If you count one hit as a win, you are clearly underestimating every single opponent you have and will face which will eventually will get you and possibly anyone around you injured or killed," I called over my shoulder not stopping the string faces I was making at the twins.

"I would take that as advice if you were still a contender in the League," L'gann replied.

I let out a laugh. "You are not even in the League, so please do not let your overly sized ego get in the way of actually learning. You know, since you clearly have a long way to go with how your standards of an accomplished battle are at such a low level."

"How dare you insult me?" He responds angrily causing me to look over my shoulder in a bored manner.

"How dare you waste the team's time arguing against your mentors?" I responded back, annoyed. "You spend every practice trying to prove yourself instead of learning to improve yourself—"

"You are interrupting practice and—"

"I wasn't finished talking," I respond angrily. "You choose to hear what is being told to you instead of actually listening to what is being said. If you paid attention to you mentor's advice instead of being so self-assured, you wouldn't be the one on the team with the most injures totally in a quarter and be ranked in gamma team."

"I don't have to take this," L'gann yelled angrily as he began to storm towards the exit.

I let out a heavy sigh. " _Mommy will be right back."_ They let their grip loose and as I stood I extended my arm palm out and formed a shield covering the exit. L'gann stopped short and turned angrily.

"Neptune's beard!" he cursed.

"Platform, now!" I said simply as I made my way to the platform.

"I refuse!"

I sighed and placed a smile on my face. "That's cute, you think that was me asking," I said smugly. I dropped the smile. "Platform! Now!" He was resilient but walked to the platform and stopped ten feet in front of me. "I have a wager. You land five hits on me and I no longer comment on your performance in training, leave you to Nightwing, Kaldur, and your King. I land ten hits on you, I begin to aid in your training, and you don't get to check out when I am talking."

"That seems a little unfair to you," he said smugly, bouncing back quickly from his mood.

"We'll see about that," I said as I got in a fighting stance. I gestured for him to have the first move. He of course lunged forward without warning. I stiffed an eye roll and side stepped the moved ease. He passed my right side and I swiveled on my left heel to face him. He turned and lunged again, he got a shock when I caught him by his wrists. I held them above his head and thrusted my right knee into his side before pushing him away. (1) He jumped back with the shock of the blow and I could see he was angry that he didn't get the first hit. He began to come at me swinging in an uncoordinated manner. I dodged and blocked every one of them with ease. "You need to think of a fight as a game of chess," I state. "It's a game of strategy, you plan your next moves with contingencies, while you simultaneously planning you opponent's moves as well."

"A board game is of no use in a fight," he responds.

"The game itself does not," I agreed, "But the point of the game is what is vital to your survival in any fight." I caught his fist in my hand when it became too close to my face. I caught the other with ease. He tried to pull as expected and it pulled me closer to him. I swung my feet up and as my feet landed on his chest I let go of his hands causing him to slide several feet away. (2) "Does that count as one hit or two?"

He let out a noise of anger and charged me. I side stepped him again and ducked this time as he swung a fist out as he stopped. I got in another punch before jumping back. (3) I flipped away from him and landed. "See you thought ahead and knew I would side stepped you and planned an attack accordingly. You must move in a coordinated manner with no pattern."

He rushed me again swinging punches. "That makes no sense."

"It makes no sense, because you don't listen," I argued back. "You are stubborn and will not learn because you feel like you have something to prove to the team." I bent back and placed my hands on the floor and flung my body up to kick him in his upper chest sending him onto his back. (4) "You have nothing to prove." He got up and began to set out and attack but I was on a roll and was not about to let him stop me now. I grabbed his first attempt twisted it away and punched him with my left hand. (5) "Out of all the individuals in your age range of Atlantis, your king chose **you**. He chose **you,** because he saw your potential for a higher purpose." I threw his hand away from my right hand and swung, landing on his ribs. (6) "He trained you to be a hero, because he could see that you needed more than what you had before. You needed friends, a family that could understand you in a way that you needed to be understood." I pushed him away and swung out my hand and pointed to the team. "That family is right there. They are open to understand you because they can. Civilian atlantians are just like civilian humans. They don't like different. They don't like people who think differently, act differently, look differently, than they are. Civilians do not understand how someone can have the drive to save someone's life when they don't deserved to be saved, like a villain or someone who hates being saved. They don't understand the drive heroes have, _they do._ " I point at them again then move to point at L'gann. "Now here is what is going to go down. I'm going to kick your ass, you are going to shut up and listen to me in training, and learn so you don't let down your team." And then I really began my assault. I ran at him and began to punch landing three hits (9) before he finally began to block. He attempted to grab one of my fists, kicked his knee causing him to release his grasp. (10) I grabbed his out stretched hand in both of mine. I turned and placed it over my shoulder before throwing him over my body where he landed on the ground in front of me. (11) "Now are you going to continue exhausting yourself trying to let a hit on me, or continue team training? Because by my count I'm at 11 including my last move and you haven't even touched me."

He groaned on the floor and nodded. I reach out a hand and help him up. "On a good note, you at least survived. When Nightwing first fought me, I KO'd him and gave him a concussion."

"Not fair, you used your powers," Nightwing argued from his spot.

"And the bloody nose and sprained ankle before you scared me during a time out were what? Magic?" I asked sarcastically.

Nightwing grimaced and asked that Robin and Blue Beetle get on the platform. I smiled proudly and moved to stand by Kaldur's side. He placed and arm around my shoulder and kissed my forehead. " _Thank you._ "

" _He needed, it more than he or anyone else realized. And he needed it from someone who had no previous attachments to him. He has potential, he just needs to get his head out of his ass long enough to be shown how to use it."_


	43. Chapter 40

"Show me our fighting stance," I said simply. Two days later and L'gann was here for his first training session with me. Kaldur and Nightwing were both here as happy mediators and baby sitters of the currently sleeping twins. I really should be concerned that my children can sleep during a full blown team training session.

"Why must I show you—"

"Because I said so that is why," I cut him off. "Now show me your fighting stance."

With a heavy sigh, he moved his body into a fighting stance traditional for Atlantians. His back was straight, hands positions to protect his torso and face, left foot in front of the other causing his right half to angle back. "Perfect, traditional stance for Atlantians. Strong firm, yet the ability to be agile." He smirked and was about to open his mouth to say something conceded I'm sure. "Which is exactly why you should not use it in a fight against more experienced criminals."

"What?" L'gann asked angrily. "You said it was perfect."

"Which it is. Perfect," I said calmly, "but predictable. You always begin with left side as your body presents for you. Your opponent will know which side to block first and you waste energy in your first assault."

He stayed silent, but I could tell he was ticked at my comment. I helped him by giving him a range of fighting stances like Mom taught me. L'gann was a quick learner, thankfully. He was quick on learning the fight stances and quick on integrating them in our fights. I ended the session after two hours. "You did great, Lgann," I said with a smile. "I'll have you kicking Nightwing's ass in no time." He grinned at that and left to go back home.

He was improving quickly and it made me feel like an accomplished teacher. I watched in mock fights during Team training as L'gann was much better and less of a condescending ass. He even beat Robin. I clapped loudly for that, no offense to Robin of course. But beating a bat clan member was an accomplishment, even if it was the youngest. L'gann approached me and stood by my side. I held out my hand for a high five, which he responded back with. The rest of the training session went by as per usual and I could tell some of them were getting bored. I walked over to Nightwing and stood by his side. I placed and hand on his shoulder. " _Don't you have anything else planned for tonight besides mock fights? They have done the same thing every day this week."_

 _"They need a routine."_

 _"They need to not be bored to tears. Routines are for things like school, gym, and when to eat. Fighting villains are not routine, you need to be spontaneous."_

 _"So you want me to think like the Joker," he deadpanned._

 _"I want you to stop being Batman and be a Nightwing," I said before removing my hand._

 _He smirked. "I have just the thing in mind."_

He let out a sigh. "Okay, Team, that's enough."

"Sweet, early release," Bart said speeding to Cassie's side.

I scoffed. "Try again, Kid idiot," I stated.

"We are going to change things up a little bit," Nightwing called. "Since all of you seem so bored, you clearly must have learned something from our training sessions. Team building exercise."

"Why do I feel like this is going to end the badly?" Starfire asked nervously.

"It won't if you paid attention," I said smiling deviously.

"Senior members versus junior members," Nightwing states. "If you learned anything along with your number advantage, this should be easy."

The looks on some of their faces…. _priceless_. I stood on the side while everyone got in position along with Kaldur. He'd been standing in the corner playing with Alena. Nightwing M'gann, and Connor stood on one side while everyone else stood on the other. Nightwing looked at us, "I said senior members didn't, I?"

Kaldur and I shared a look and smirked. "Well, if we don't really have a choice," I said coyly. We moved to stand with them, and the younger members on the other side got even more uneasy.

"Why do I feel like we are about to get our butts handed to us?" Virgil said in a hushed tone.

"This is so not crash," Bart said hushed as well.

"Wait!" Cassie, Wonder girl, exclaimed. "Powers or no powers?"

Everyone turned to Nightwing. He smirked. "Powers."

I smirked. "Computer, start a countdown if you don't mind."

 _Countdown initiated. Five._ Everyone began to prepare. _Four._ Bart moved to prepare himself to run. Starfire's eye glowed green and as well as her hands. _Three._ The senior members prepared. M'gann set up the link. _Two._ " _Water on the floor ten feet in front of, Bart."_ _One._

Kaldur with his water barriers released water on the ground. "Nrut eht retaw otni eci!" I exclaimed and the water immediately froze causing a sprinting Bart to slip and fall, sliding in front of us. I grabbed him by the arm and spun around throwing him onto the sliding ice and causing him to crash into some of his teammates. Connor jumped and landed on the ice causing it to shatter. We all ran, except for M'gann who went invisible and flew to use telekinetic abilities from a far. L'gaan came for me first. I blocked all of his moves. Until he moved away and Beast Boy appeared on my shoulder in the form of a green capuchin monkey. I got distracted by him that I didn't see Wonder Girl coming for me. I formed a shield and held it up for her to collide with. She pushed at the shield and punched at it causing me to inch back. As soon as she gave the shield enough energy with the kinetic energy of her blows, I caused it to 'explode' in her direction. She flew back several feet and landed, as soon as she stabilized Connor crashed into her and they both went flying. Starfire came for me after her assault on Kaldur was unsuccessful with his shield. I put up a small shield in one hand and sent energy discs at her with the other. As a few hit her she became angrier and began sending them in rapid succession. I formed a shield with both hands and waited until she tired herself out. My action of not retaliating only seemed to anger her further. So much so that the shield exploded in my face from the over load of energy. I growled, I hated when that happened. I wrapped her in a shield and flung her at Blue Beetle and Bumblebee who were approaching to help her. It was like a domino effect as they three of them took out seemingly half their team, with only Silver Magic, Beast Boy, who dived out of the way in the form of a hummingbird, Robin, Bat girl, and Guardian.

 _Blue Beetle, Bumblebee, Starfire, Lagoon Boy, Static Shock, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, FAIL._

"This is the best exercise I have had in weeks," I said as I let out a huge breath.

"Agreed," Kaldur said as he appeared by my side. We then simultaneously moved to start the second round.

We ended up winning, of course. We had worked as a team much longer than they had and we had a psychic so in was an easy win.

"Now that was an awesome training session," a voice called after the computer deemed us the winner. I turned to see Dad holding a very happy Manuel with Mom next to him holding Alena happy and observant as she usually was. "Wish League training was that fun."

"Yeah, not going to happen," Mom said with a smile as Alena was playing with a strand of her hair. "It would end up as you versus Flash, Batman, and Captain Marvel while the rest of us watch in judgement."

"Oh, that's not true. Roy and Aquaman would be in the mix as well," he said with a smile as Manuel tried to grab his goatee.

I rolled my eyes as they finally got into reach where I could grab Manuel out of his grandfather's arms. I raspberried his neck causing him to let out a shrilling laugh. " _Hi, Mommy!"_

"Hi, baby, did you have fun with Pops?" I asked out loud.

" _It was fun, we played airplane!_ " He thought excitedly as he yawned.

He leaned forward to lay his head on my shoulder as he sucked on his hand. They were both getting so big as they were approaching being four months old. They were starting to sit up on their own. "How did their nap go?" I asked as I soothingly rubbed Manuel's back.

"Yeah, about that," Dad said sheepishly. "They didn't have one."

"No wonder they are so tired," I said with a laugh which became a yawn. "I could use a nap too."

"It's been a while since you've done anything like that," Mom said looking at me with slight concern.

"Mom, I'm fine. I just didn't get much sleep last night. This living in the Watchtower temporarily is messing with my head." Mom and Dad along with several other individuals refused to let us live in the new house until it had enough security to match the Wayne manor at the least. So we had been sleeping here since their house was too packed.

"The house is almost finished, your head will be back on Earth and out of space in no time," Dad said as he rubbed the back of my head.

I went to say something and then paused. "Say that again," I responded as my thought process started up in my mind.

"You'll be back living on Earth and out of space," Dad said giving me a weird look.

"Space, that's it," I said slowly as puzzles in my mind clicked together. "It's in space, that's why we couldn't track it on Earth. It's not on Earth because they aren't on Earth. That's it! It's in space!"

"Carter, I think you need to go take that nap," Dad said warily.

"No, Dad, my work, the serum, is _in space_. That's why Barry hasn't been able to find it, because it's not on Earth. It's on the War World or wherever that are _in space!_ "

I handed Manuel back to him with a kiss on his forehead. "I need to go find Barry. If we can find them, we can find the serum. So they won't have the advantage."

I began to make my way out of the room. "Wait, Carter, it's been weeks. Surely they would have used it by now," Mom said as she began to follow me.

"Not necessarily," I said. "They don't have all the ingredients."


	44. Chapter 41

"What do you mean they don't have everything?" Black Canary said angrily.

"That enzyme that breaks down the Immunoglobulin so the serum doesn't become an autoimmune disease? I thought they had it," I said as I rushed to the computer as I ran past several League members.

"Carter," Black Canary said angrily. I stopped and turned to look at her. "Explain, now!"

I let out a sigh as I thought back to weeks earlier. Days after the whole meta-human attack ordeal, I was home packing up the kitchen while Kaldur was upstairs packing. Connor had just left to go get more boxes. I was in the kitchen when I heard the doorbell ring followed by several quiet knocks. I opened the door to see Sergeant Marcus Thompson dressed in civilian clothes with a long black trench coat and his loafers. He was a part of Standford's oncampus police force as their detective. He was always very polite and sometimes kept me company when I worked late nights and walked me to my car.

"Hey, Marcus," I said politely. "It's nice to see you."

"Carter," he nodded. "Do you mind if I come in?" he asked, hurried.

I was on alert as I had never seen him act like this before. "Yes, of course."

He nodded and walked through the door. "Is anyone else here, besides you?"

"Yes, my boyfriend is upstairs and my brother will be back home shortly," I said critically. "What's wrong?"

"I was working with the Crime lab and the FBI for the science building bombing," he said before looking at me with sorrow. "I'm sorry about those people in your lab, Maria was nice."

"Thank you."

"Anyways, a new guy came a couple days after the investigation started. Creepy guy, if I'm being honest had an obsession with riddles." _Why was the Riddler there?_ "He was looking for something specific. He didn't care about what caused the explosion just if there was some type of lock box that was left over from the lab. I told him we didn't see anything like what he described so we began to look for it." he pulled open his coat and pulled out a small tin container that I had easily recognized. I gasped and grabbed it from him. "Needless to say I found it first. I knew the bloke was up to no good and figured some group of supervillains was behind the bomb because they wanted your research. If I put this in evidence the creeper would have found it for sure. I thought it should be given back to the owner cause if Maria or whoever risked their lives to make sure this wasn't found, it must be for a damned good reason."

I nodded. "Thanks Marcus."

"The day of the explosion, Maria must have knew something was up and she hid the enzyme vials so they couldn't grab them. I figured it would take the Light a while to go through my data to realize they didn't have the enzyme."

"And what did you do with it?" Batman asked sternly.

I sighed. "I knew if I had it, they would come for me again. I knew if they thought you had it, Klarion would appear on the Watchtower and find it. Same thing if we had put it in a parallel dimension. So I hid it in the only place I knew no one but a select few could find it. Time."

"You didn't," Flash groaned out.

"I contacted Aunt Sarah and the Legends. They came to retrieve it and hid it in the timeline," I said sheepishly.

Aunt Sarah aka White Canary aka Mom's sister, Sarah Lance aka the Black Canary before mom. Long story short, she died until Mom brought her back to life with the Lazarus pit. She couldn't go back to being Black Canary because Mom had already taken the mantel and she also had this murderous hunger that she couldn't get rid of. So she became the White Canary to try and be a hero to fight that hunger. Then this guy came and gave her a proposition to go help him along with several other heroes to go and help save time. She is now the captain of a time traveling ship and crew.

I sighed. "So how much trouble am I in this time?"

Apparently, a lot. They all immediately went to the conference room to start what was going on an hour long congressional debate. From what I could hear, it was about whether or not they should get it back to keep it safe themselves. Another topic was what should be my punishment. "I don't honestly see how they can punish you," Cassie said as she came to my side. "It's your work and that was your property that you had the right to do with what you like. Choosing Aunt Sarah to hide it was an excellent choice."

"Thanks, Sis," I said with a half-smile. "But I don't think Mom appreciated me going behind her back it makes her look like a crappy leader."

"Please, they all know she is a wonderful leader. The only one with this issue are the ones who think they are 'all mighty'."

I smirked, but it immediately dropped from my face as the door opened and Zatanna stood solemnly at the door. I let out a sigh as I began to walk to the door. I stood in a spot as Zee walked to her chair and sat down. I held my head high and stood in perfect stature waiting for whatever they were going to throw at me.

"Carter," Batman began. He was in charge of the meeting this round since Mom has personal ties to the situation. "Your continuous disregard for League rules is insubordination."

"I didn't realize I had broken any rules, seeing as I am not in the League," I said simply. "I withheld information about my _personal_ research that would but both the League and the Team in danger. I did not and do not doubt either party's capability to protect a couple of vials. The Light has already gained entry into the Watchtower and I was not going to be the cause of putting another in danger."

"Regardless of your personal perception of the situation, we should have been notified," Captain Adam said bitterly. I stayed silent. "Also while we are here. Why don't we discuss her high involvement in the Team's training when she is no longer a member?"

That got Dad going. "She is an assistant to Nightwing as is Kaldur. Neither want to be involved in being heroes because of their decisions. They are still capable of sharing their knowledge and experiences with the Team to aid in their training."

"And her personal training sessions with Lagoon Boy?" He fired back.

"Has my support," Aquaman said sternly. "He has benefitted substantially from her teachings in ways that even I still misunderstand. As I am sure all the Team has."

"They have," Nightwing said from his spot. "The Team has become more involved and has begun to take the training sessions more seriously."

"But it still does not negate the fact that she is now a civilian with access to a lot of confidential information. Look at what she did with the Blockbuster Kobra venom compound," Hawkman stated, "Using the compound to create an immune system booster that almost got into the hands of the Light."

"Then lied about circumstances of the ingredients," Captain Adam said with certainty.

"But she did so with the best of intentions in mind," Wonder woman responded.

"Best intentions do not equate to the right thing to do," Hawkwoman responded.

They began to argue back and forth about my past actions. I turned to look at M'gann and gave her a look. Seconds later, her presence was in my mind. " _Connect me to Kaldur, please."_

" _Carter, what's wrong?"_ his concerned voice filled my mind.

" _I needed to talk to you_ ," I said back. " _Before I did something that would affect our family's lives."_

"What is the actual problem that the Justice League has with me?" I asked loudly. "Is it that I am civilian or is it because I defy the League's wishes?"

"Your blatant disregard for authority is just the tip of the iceberg," Captain Adam replied.

"My blatant disregard for authority was using a cataloged compound to create a serum to possibly save lives. And I did not disregard authority I withheld information that could have risked lives. You also all still fail to realize that it was my research, mine. Not the Justice League's, mine and previously Stanford's but we all know what happened there. In all honestly there are certain individuals in this room who believe that I am able to get away with what I can because of who my parents, friends, and previous mentors are. That may be true in some instances, but currently what this meeting about is petty anger. I didn't tell you the Light didn't have all that they needed, do you know how you would have reacted? You wouldn't, because there would be no threat, therefore no need to search and that would be suspicious to them. We all might not know what happens in the future, but the Light will come back to Earth with another plan, another ally, and with the War World. And if I can do anything in the position I have now as a retired team member, a mother, and still be able to help train the Team so they have a fighting chance, I damned will. It also will help if both Kaldur and I are needed, if we are still trained."

"You are talking about an event that may not happen."

"And you are a fool if you think the Light will just give up after years maybe decades scheming and retire like a normal civilian," I shot back angrily. "Disregarding a threat does not make it disappear or weaken."

"Acting like a threat is there does not bode well either."

I scoffed. "That's the whole reason the Justice League was founded! There was a threat, they destroyed it, and they founded the League to resolved future threats."

"Yes, the League and the Team, not a group of civilians," Captain Adam responded.

"Fine, if you have an issue with my current status in the Justice League that can be easily rectified. Computer, reinstate entre Blue Raven B04 and Aqualad B03. While you were arguing, I talked with the senior members of the Team and Kaldur and came to the conclusion of what's best for the Team. You want both Kaldur and I to be under League jurisdiction, we are yours. Because just as all of you have loyalty to the League, we have our own to worry about." I stood from my spot. "Am I dismissed? My twins are supposed to be waking up from their nap soon."

Silence filled the room like a heavy fog as I walked out of the room without permission. I met with Kaldur and we began the walk to our temporary room hand in hand. I opened the door and walked to the temporary crib of the twins. I stood there next to the crib, "What if we didn't make the right choice?"

"They gave us no other," he said as he wrapped a hand around my waist and kissed my temple. "There is too much uncertainty to stand idle."


	45. AUTHOR'S NOTE 2

Hello everyone sorry i have been MIA but i promise it was for great time-consuming reasons. I graduated from college in May and since then i have been studying to take a really important test called the MCAT which is a test required to get into medical school. I spent every single day im my local library until i took the test this past week. i needed a break from everything and i took that in my bed with a small hibernation. however im back and ready to bring it but im finished with this season and im starting a new one. So go to book three y'all. TLG19 out!


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